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ESSAYS 



ON SOME Or THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLES 



OF THE 



COMPRISING 

A FULL ACCOUNT OF ALL THE NEW PROXIMATE PRIK GTPL5S, Aff» 

THE POPULAR MEDICINES LATELT INTRODUCED IN PRACTICX, 

DETAILING THE FORMULAS FOR THBIR PREPARATION, 

THEIR HABITUDES AND PECULIARITIES, DOSES AND 

MODES OF ADMINISTRATION, WITH 

REMARKS 

ON THE 

Most Eligible Form of their Exhibition : 

TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES, 

Surgical Instruments, &c. #c 9 

ADAPTED FOR 
A PHYSICIAN AT THE OUTSET OP HIS PRACTICE, 

WITH THE 

oses and Effects attached to each Medicint^ <£c. #c. 

By Creo. W. Carpenter. 

PHILADELPHIA, 

Geo. W. Carpenters'* Chemical Warehouse, 301 Market St. 

183J. ^~~ 






c$ 



* *c 




c^ 



EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT: 

Be it nrariutnsERE.p, That on the twelfth day of 
July, Anno Domini, one thousand eight hundred 
:and thirty one, GEORGE W. CARI J ENTliR, of 
the said District, hath deposited in this office the 
Title of a Book, the title of which is in the words 
following, to wit: 

EsBays on some of the most important articles in the Materia 
Medica, comprising" a full account of all the new Proximate 
Principles, and the Popular Medicines lately introduced in 
Practice, detailing the Formulas for their preparation, their 
habitudes and peculiarities, doses and modes of Administra- 
tion, with Remark* on the most eligible Form of their Exhi- 
bition; to which is added, a Catalogue of Medicines, Surgical 
instruments, &c. &c. adapted for a Physician at the outset of 
his practice, with the Doses and Effects attached to each Medi- 
cine, &c.&c. By Geo W, Carpenter. 

The right wereof he claims as Author, in conformity with 
an Act of Congress, entitled " An Act to amend the several 
Acts respecting Copy-Rights." 

D CALDWELL, 

Clerk of the District. 



TO THE 

MEDICAL CLASS 



OS THK 



UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 

THIS WORK IS HUMBLY SUBMITTED, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



In submitting the following pages to the 
Medical community, it will be necessary for 
me first to apologize for their imperfections, 
and I feel satisfied they will indulge me 
under the circumstances of the case. They 
were penned during the short intervals of 
suspense amidst the bustle and toil of an 
active business, and my object was more for 
the purpose of keeping up strict habits of in- 
dustry and close application, than for any be- 
nefit which I could anticipate to result from 
their publication. The former I am certain to 
have attained, and should the latter result, I 
shall be doubly rewarded. I have at various 
times contributed essays on the different ar- 
ticles of the materia medica to our medical 
journals, particularly to the Philadelphia 
Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences, 
and to the recent highly valuable periodical 
the American Journal of Medical Sciences. 
My Medical friends have frequently called 
upon me for copies of these essays, until I had 
distributed several thousand of each, when 
I was earnestly solicited for some time (hav- 
ing exhausted all the loose copies I had print- 
ed,) to publish them together, and in com- 
pliance with these requests, I have introduc- 
ed this work to public attention. I rely 
upon my Medical friends for its support, and 

A 2 



VI PREFACE. 

I purpose, if sufficiently encouraged, to pub- 
lish a more enlarged view of the articles of 
the materia medica generally, under the title 
of Pharmacologia. In the present work I 
have added considerably to the essays above 
alluded to, by introducing a full description 
of the new and popular medicines which I 
have lately brought into notice, and which I 
now exclusively manufacture. I have also 
embraced in the present work, a concise ac- 
count of some of the new and valuable medi- 
cines introduced to public attention by the 
excellent treatise of Majendie, and have quo- 
ted the formulas which he has laid down for 
their preparation, because I consider them a 
standard, which all the apothecaries and phy- 
sicans should invariably adhere to, in order 
that we may have uniform preparations. I 
repeat again that these formulas are from 
Magendie, for not having adverted to it in 
the places where they ha? e been given, I wish 
it here particularly understood, for there will 
be, no doubt, some of my competitors seeking 
every little avenue of this publication to hunt 
out and magnify any little weak points, (more 
or less of which may be called out of the 
most valuable productions,) while the brilliant 
light of truth and information which they 
contain, generally drives them in despair be- 
fore they have fully completed their worthy 
intentions; hence it is we find men of the 
most depraved talents undervaluing master- 
ly compositions, because they do not fully un- 
derstand them. And how often in our daily 



PREFACE. Vli 

walks in life, and in our intercourse with the 
world, do we find these circumstances mani- 
fested. How many able speeches and ora- 
tions do we see tattered and torn, by persons 
unable to speak, or with capacity to under- 
stand. But what does it effect? And what 
is its influence? They are generally ere long 
defeated by their own language, and the ora- 
tor stands the same, and the oration has lost 
no more by their condemnation than it would 
have gained by their applause. 

I do not by any means wish to condemn 
criticism, it is the very life and essence of 
writing, and when it is done impartially, and 
without prejudice, should always be invited 
by the author. 

There is no circumstance which evinces 
more strongly the progress of Medical Sci- 
ences, than the general and increasing spirit 
of emulation, and the ardour with which many 
of its votaries apply in developing and sub- 
stantiating new facts, as the fruitful result of 
their researches and discoveries. Chemisty 
and Pharmacy have contributed more largely 
to the grand fund of solid and substantial in- 
formation, than any other branches of the 
Medical Sciences. It is to this department 
we are indebted for the valuable acquisition 
of Quinine, Morphine, Piper ine, and other 
proximate principles; and, a number of high- 
1 y valuable improved and concentrated pre- 
pa rations, as the Compound Fluid Extract 
of Sarsaparilla, <§lc Sec. all of which have be- 
come perfectly established in Medical prac- 



Vlll PREFACE. 

tice, and their particular effects can now be 
relied upon with as much certainty as Calo- 
mel and Opium. While speaking of Sarsa- 
parilla, I cannot refrain from expressing in 
this place, the valuable properties of the 
Fluid Extract, which possesses so many 
advantages over the syrup, decoction, 
and solid extract, which is proved in 
the subsequent pages of this work. Physi- 
cians can now rely upon an uniform prepara- 
tion, and can conveniently prescribe it; and 
the patient will now be relieved from the 
trouble and difficulties of preparing the de- 
coction, which was seldom sufficiently boiled, 
and otherwise improperly made by those un- 
acquainted with phamaceuiical preparations. 
I have seen very silly objections made to this 
preparation by one of my competitors in 
trade, who is ever ready to speculate on the 
analysis of articles which he is unacquainted 
with, and thus frequently makes excessive 
blunders; this is to be pitied, since he might 
at once strike upon a much more successful 
effort in quoting the analysis and composition 
of the improved water colours, which he must 
necessarily be more acquainted with, and 
which, in fact, might be an interesting disclo- 
sure. We must, however, expect to meet 
with the collision of opposite opinion, and at 
the present epoch, we cannot expect that we 
should all agree upon any one subject, though 
it were as manifest as the unobscured sun at 
noonday. We must, therefore, expect to 
meet with opposition in the most useful dis- 



PREFACE. IX 

coveries. Hence we frequently find a person 
opposing articles, their usefulness and supe- 
riority fully established by well attested 
facts, and by the experience of some of the 
most distinguished men; and all this without 
advancing arguments, or producing facts. I 
say we object to an individual less able to 
judge, than perhaps any one of those he is 
opposing, to advance his opinion against a 
host of men eminent in the profession, and to 
offer his opinions as a pattern to be followed, 
when in truth, they are an obstacle to be 
shunned; but such is the blindness of human 
nature, that men are too apt to set themselves 
up as guides, when they should be satisfied 
to serve as beacons. There is no doubt they 
may now and then meet with a follower or 
disciple, who will catch at their opinions and 
support them as an expedient, but they gene- 
rally in a short time die away for want of 
support, while articles they have expended 
themselves upon, appear to have taken fresh 
roots from the nourishment, and the branches 
to have extended themselves in all directions 
far and wide. Thus we find the Saratoga 
powders described in the following pages to 
have become every year more and more po- 
pular, and their usefulness to be more and 
more appreciated, and the demand for them 
co-extensive with their increased reputation. 
They have been introduced in every section 
of the United States, and have given in all 
cases the most decided and unequivocal sa- 
tisfaction, and produced the most salutary 



x preface:. 

and beneficial effects, and have elicited from 
the faculty and highly distinguished indivi- 
duals in various places, voluntary acknow- 
ledgments of satisfaction, and expressions of 
high commendation on their character and 
properties, while the miserable objections 
and defective analysis of an apothecary have 
long since slumbered in forgetfulness. Thus 
it was with Quinine, the same objections 
were made to it when first introduced, and 
much clamour and opposition raised, one 
said it was too acrid, another too uncertain, 
and a third too costly, that it would never be 
used. But these objections one by one gra- 
dually subsided, while Quinine raised its as- 
piring head, and its extensive usefulness soon 
became manifest to the total obscuration and 
entire oblivion of the foolish objections which 
had been started, and we may venture to say 
there is not a single practitioner of medicine 
who will not admit its value and superiority 
to the bark. 

Thus it is with the Fluid Extract of Sar- 
saparilla, the clamours which was raised 
against it by a competitor in trade, as clear- 
ly growing out of envy and prejudice, as any 
fact which could possibly be proven by cir- 
cumstantial evidence, has already been 
annihilated, while this ^preparation is ra- 
pidly increasing in reputation, and is now 
prescribed by the most distinguished physi- 
cians in the United States, and with the most 
decided satisfaction, it is certainly an article 
which should receive their support and ap- 



PREFACE. XI 

probation, as it would have a tendency of 
putting down, in a great measure, the vari- 
ous nostrums which are sold under different 
names, and which are in fact nothing but 
Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla, which is 
most frequently improperly made, as the 
venders and manufactures of them in most 
cases, never been brought up in the profes- 
sion, are ignorant of pharmacy, and their 
preparations will, therefore, be very defec- 
tive. There is nothing concealed in the 
composition of the Compound Fluid Extract 
of Sarsaparilla, being made from the articles 
composing the Lisbon Diet; its value and 
superiority over other preparations is owing 
entirely to the peculiar manner in which it 
is made, by which all the medical virtues are 
extracted from the roots by the most efficient 
process, based on chemical principles, ob- 
tained from the result of numerous experi- 
ments made exclusively for the purpose of as- 
certaining the same. There will be found in 
this work a description of a number of new 
medicines prepared and introduced by me, 
which have all been sufficiently tested and 
proved by ample experience by some of our 
most eminent physicians, to possess fully the 
virtues and properties which have been as- 
signed to them. The Compound Extract 
Buchu, Oil of Cantharidin, Compound Tonic 
Extract, Citrated Kali, &c &c. <£c. will all 
be found on trial to be valuable medicines, 
and I feel satisfied will prove useful to the 



XU PREFACE. 

practitioner, and meet with the decided ap- 
probation of the faculty, as they have been 
wherever yet introduced. 

EC7 3 1 would beg leave particularly to in- 
form the faculty that there has been various 
imitations of my Compound Extract of Sar- 
saparilla, Saratoga powders and several 
other preparations, and that sales of them 
have been effected on the reputation of 
mine. They are put up in the same 
form, the name borrowed, also part of the 
description and directions so as to imitate 
externally as closely as possible, my prepa- 
rations. The faculty, therefore, in making 
out their orders, who wish those prepared by 
me should express it decidedly in their direc- 
tions, or they might perhaps get another ar- 
ticle. I have heard frequent complaints 
from physicians in the country who had or- 
dered my preparations and received instead 
of them spurious and inferior imitations, 
which was the cause of so much displeasure, 
that they immediately sent their orders di- 
rect to me. I think the original inventor 
should receive the benefit of his improve- 
ments, and that spurious imitations of every 
kind should not receive encouragement 
but the disapprobation and censure of the 
community, 



OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS 



© 



Its varieties and appearance in com- 
merce, SfC SfC 

This important article, from its extensive useful- 
ness, in modifying and alleviating the most afflicting 
and painful diseases incident to human nature, merits 
perhaps the most conspicuous place in the materia 
medica; yet from being injudiciously administered, 
and more particularly from its pharmaceutical pre- 
parations, being improperly made, it frequently pro- 
duces injurious and distressing consequences. With 
the hope of remedying some of these inconveniences, 
I have made a series of experiments, the results of 
which are contained in the following observations. 
Before, however, entering upon the pharmaceutical 
preparations, it may not perhaps be improper to offer 
a very concise view of the natural history and phy- 
sical characters of this article, as it occurs at the 
present day in our commerce. Opium is the pro- 
duct of the Papaver somniferum, and is the inspissa- 
ted juice of the capsules of that plant. It has been 
improperly termed a gum by many authors, and the 

error prevails to the present day. It is a native of 

A 



Z OPIUM. 

the southern pads of Asia. It may, however, be 
raised in our gardens, and is now cultivated in Eng- 
land on an imposing scale, which has been increas- 
ing for several years. It possesses the same properties 
as the Turkey or East India opium, andis more pure, 
containing a larger portion of soluble matter. The 
Turkey opium has hitherto possessed the best repu- 
tation, and has been considered superior to any other. 
Dr. Thomson* informs us, that he obtained from 
Turkey opium nearly three times more morphia than 
was yielded by the same quantity of East India. I 
have treated equal quantities of Turkey and English 
opium by the same process, and obtained twenty 
per cent, more morphia from the latter than the 
former ; this would sanction the belief of the supe- 
riority of the English; which superiority, I think, is 
to be attributed to the careful manner in which it is 
prepared. The following are the prominent cha- 
racters of the several varieties of opium, and by 
which they may be easily distinguished. 

Turkey opium is of a reddish-brown colour, pos- 
sessing a strong narcotic odour, of a solid and com- 
pact consistence, when dry has a shining and uniform 
fracture of a dark -brown colour producing a reddish- 
brown powder ; the best kind is generally in flat 
pieces. 

East India opium is of thin consistence, sometimes 
almost like that of honey ; when dry it is more fria- 
ble, its colour nearly black, and possesses less bitter 
and a more nauseous taste than the Turkey; it has a 

*JLondon Dispensatovy . 



OPIUM. § 

strong empyreumatic odour, and not the narcotic 
heavy one which is so sensible in the Turkey ; it is 
considerably cheaper and much inferior in strength 
to the latter, and according to Dr. Thomson contains 
but one-third the quantity of morphia and a larger 
portion of narcotine, which renders it a far less de- 
sirable article. Dr. Coxs, in his valuable American 
Dispensatory, remarks, that one-eighth the caJces 
is allowed for the enormous quantity of leaves with 
which they are enveloped. This opium is little used 
in this country, and is seldom, if ever to be found in 
the shops of our druggists. 

English opium is generally in smaller cakes, fre- 
quently thin and flat, of a more permanent consist- 
ence, of a clear smooth fracture, and is destitute of 
leaves, stalks, and other impurities which generally 
accompany opium. It has the general character of 
being superior in quality to the Turkey, which chem- 
ical analysis* has determined. The quality of opium 

* It is to chemistry that we are indebted for many impor- 
tant facts in relation to opium, and for the knowledge of mor- 
phia and narcotine, the two active principles of opium — two 
principles of a directly opposite nature' existing" in the same 
substance, and exercising individually their particular effect* 
on the constitution. MaViy are opposed to chemical analysis 
6.6 a means of discovering the virtues of*medicines ; and among- 
others Dr. Young,f who states as an argument that Geoffroy 
discovered by chemical analysis that the soporific quality of 
opium depended upon its sulphur. We might agree with Dr. 
Young, if the science of chemistry had not advanced since the 
period alluded to, and did experiments upon opium now lead 
to similar conclusions. We might as well reject as useless the 
f Young on Opium. 



4 OPIUM. 

differs very materially, even that from the same 
country, climate, soil, &c. which arises no doubt in 
many instances from the manner in which it is pre- 
pared and cultivated. It is frequently found in our 
market mixed with leaves, stalks, seeds, &c.and from 
the great proportion of these admixtures in some 
opium, it would lead to a conjecture, that the. leaves 
were worked in when the opium vyas in a very 
soft and recent state, for the purpose of increasing 
the weight and consistence. I have even seen 
opium whose external characters possessed all the 
features of superior quality, and when broken, ex* 
posed a large proportion of the leaves and capsules 
of the poppy, which, although it does not alter the 
particular effects, must diminish the activity of tho 
opium in direct proportion to the quantity and weight 
of these extraneous and insoluble matters, and I 
have ascertained by careful experiments that the 
quantity of soluble or extractive matter by the same 
menstrua and process, yielded by different parcels of 
opium, varies from four and a half and five to six 
drachms in the ounce. 

analysis of cinchona bark, because a chemist has asserted that 
the comparative quantity of the active principles, (quinine 
and cinchonine,) yielded by the Carthage na bark, was in pro- 
portion to the quantity yielded by the Calisaya as I to 70. If 
errors so palpable would have retarded the inquiries and la- 
bours, or diminished the zeal of the scrutinizing chemist, the 
science, instead of holding the elevated rank it now possesses, 
would long since have dwindled into obscurity. Error* and 
absurdities will naturally creep into every department of set* 
ence. 



OPIUM. 9 

The consumption of opium is almost incredible. 
In the year 1800, 46,808 lbs. were consumed in Eu- 
rope. In the year 1 809, the revenue which the Ben- 
gal governmet derived from the sale of opium, was 
394,978/, and the exports of opium from Calcutta 
to China alone, in 181 1-12, amounted to 4,542,968 
sicca rupees — 567,871/.* The supply for Calcutta 
for 1827, is rated at 13,700 chests. The supply for 
1 826 was 10,300 chests, making an increase of 3,400 
chesU in the last year. 

Although opium is prohibited by the Chinese gov- 
ernment, yet about 2000 chests^are annually import- 
ed into Canton, the average sale price being 120O 
dollars per chest, making the amount annually ex- 
pended by Canton for this drug, the enormous sum 
of 24,000.000 dollars. About 40,000 pounds are 
annually imported into London. 

fn the provinces of Bahar and Banares, among the 
most productive of the East Indies, the common 
product of opium is twenty-four pounds to an acre, 
besides which the cultivator reaps about forty 
pounds of seed. The preparation of the raw opium 
is under the immediate superintendence of the com- 
pany's agent, who adopts the following method to 
prepare it. It consists in evaporating, by exposun- 
to the sun, the watery particles, which are replaced 
by oil of poppy seeds, to prevent the drying of the 
resin. The opium is then formed into cakes, and 
covered with the petals of the poppy, and when suf- 
ficiently dried, it is packed in chests with the frug- 

•Hem'Uon's E-ast Tudia Gazetteer. 

A 2 



O OPIUM. 

merits of the capsules, from which poppy seeds have* 
been threshed out. It is said opium is .sometimes 
vitiated with an extract from the leaves and stalks of 
the poppy and with the gum of the mimosa. 

The cultivation of opium in England, if extensire, 
will no doubt influence the price of this article in our 
market.* 

It has lately been more successfully cultivated by 
a Mr. Young, than any other person who has yet 
attempted its culture in Great Britain,! and from 
which more flattering expectations are entertained of 
its success. Dr. Coxe, however, in his standard 
work, the American Dispensatory, observes, it is 

* Messrs, Cowley and Stains, of Winslow, in the season of 
1822, raised 143 lbs. of excellent opium from eleven acres and 
live poles of land, for which they received a premium from the 
society instituted at London, for the encouragement of arts, 
manufactures and commerce. A medal has been given by the 
society to J. W. Jeston, Esq. Surgeon, for an improvement in 
collecting the juice of the poppy, which consists in collecting- 
it immediately after it exudes from the capsules, instead of 
allowing it to be inspissated on the capsule. The capsule U 
scarified with a sharp instrument, gauged to a proper depth, 
when the juice is scraped off' with a kind of funnel-form scoop, 
fixed into the mouth of a vial; when one vial is filled, the scoop 
is removed to another, and the juice is evaporated in shallow 
pans; some varieties are much more productive than others. 
(See Transactions of the Society for the encouragement of 
Arts, Man. and Com. Vol. 41.) 

Mr. Ball, in 1796, received a premium from the society for 
the encouragement of arts, for a specimen of I'ritish opium, 
little inferior to the Oriental. (Transactions of the Society of 
Arts, vol. xiv. pp. 260; 270,) 

f Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, No. U. p»ge 26 2. 



OPIUM. V 



apprehended, the climate of Great Britain is an in- 
superable obstacle to its becoming a profitable branch 
of agriculture. It has been obtained in the United 
States, where this objection will not prevail.* I 
think the southern states, particularly the Caro- 
linas and Georgia, are admirably adapted, from cli- 
mate and soil, for the cultivation of the poppy, and 
if properly managed, would no doubt yield a source 
of considerable nroiit to the cultivator, if not an im- 
mense revenue to the states, and a most important 
addition to the productions of our country. 
* The opium raised in England, has been used for 
several years by physicians and surgeons, who pro- 
nounce it superior to the best Turkey and East 
India opium. One thing is very certain ; it is pre- 
pared with mere care and attention, and is more free 
from leaves and other impurities ; the fracture of 
English opium when dry, is as smooth and uniform 
as liquorice ; what I have seen has be.en put up in 
small flat cakes, and of a good consistence. Opium 
is frequently put up in a soft state, and packed with 
a large proportion, of leaves to prevent the lumps 
adhering; these leaves adhering to the sides, are 
gradually taken into the body of the opium, which, 
with that previously incorporated with it, is the cause 
of seeing opium in the condition of impurity as al- 
ready described. 

Extract of Opium. — Among the advantages which 

the extract of opium possesses over the crude opium 

l of commerceis, thatall the faeculencies and impurities 

•Philadelphia Medical Museum, Vol. II.pag-e428. 



8 OPIUM. 

having been separated, you obtain the soluble and ac- 
tive portion of the opium in a pure state, and as the in* 
soluble and impure parts exercise no effect, and con- 
stitute a considerable proportion of bulk and weight, 
the opium of commerce must differ in proportion to 
the amount of these impurities, and consequent!/ 
cannot be depended upon so well as the extract for 
activity or uniformity of strength. The extract of 
opium, as it is generally made, is very objectionable, 
siot being more active than crude opium, and conse- 
quently is seldom or ever employed by our physi- 
cians. From various modes and different menstrua 
which I have tried, I find the following to make the 
most eligible preparation, possessing most advan- 
tages both in the activity and persistency of the ex- 
tract, as well as having the decided superiority over 
crude opium, by affording all its desirable effects, 
without any of its inconveniences or disadvantages. 

Denarco'tised acidulous Extract of Opium, — Digest 
ji, coarsely powdered opium j^i. sulphuric aether of 
the specific gravity .735 for ten days,* occasionally 
submitting to a moderate heat in a water bath, distil 
off the aether and add fresh portions until it ceases 
to take up narcotine or act at all upon the opium, 
which may be readily known by dropping a little oa 
a clean pane of glass which will leave no trace when 
the opium is completely exhausted, the second or 
third distillation will prove sufficient, most of the 

• Where it is necessary to prepare it in haste, less time 
may be employed by submitting it more frequently to tue 
temperature of ebullition. 



opium. y 

aether may be saved if prepared with care and in a. 
proper apparatus. Professor Hare* recommends 
the digestion of thcopium in aether, to be performed 
in the Papin's digester, submit the opium thus treated , 
to the action of spt. vin. rect. gvjih acetic, acid. 
fort; 3j.t aqua fvii. and digest for seven days, filter 
and evaporate in a water bath to the consistence of 
an extract. This in fact will be an impure acetate 
of morphia, possessing most of the advantages of that 
valuable medicine. One ounce of the best Turkey 
opium yielded by this process ^vi. of extract. Laud- 
anum and other, preparations maybe made of the 
usual standard, calculating 3vi. of the extract equiv- 
alent to |i. of opium. 

Dtnarcotistd acidulous Tincture of Opium. — Digest 
§i. of coarsely powdered opium in one pint of 
sulph. aether, s. g. .735 for ten days, occasionally sub- 
mitting it to the influence of a moderate heat, until 
it ceases to act upon the opium, separate the opium 
and dry it, then digest in spt. vin. rect. iviii. acetic, 
acid. fort. gii. aqua. gvi. for seven days, and filter. 
This preparation will be found to possess great ad- 
vantages over laudanum and the black drop of the 
shops, to which it will be much preferable, inasmuch 
as it will be destitute of the stimulating principle, 
(narcotine,) which produces such distressing effects, 
and frequently forbids the administration of opium, 
where it might otherwise be extremely useful, the 

* See Philadelphia Journal of the Med. ana Phys. Sciences? 
No. IX. New Series, p. 78. 

Acid pyre-ligneous, pure, (concentrated.) 



10 OPIUM. 

addition of acetic acid will contribute much to in- 
crease the calming or sedative effects, which are 
most generally desired, and for which opium is par- 
ticularly given. By its union with the morphia, it 
forms in solution the active sedative salt of opium, 
(acetate of morphia,) and differs only from the solu- 
tion of the acetate of morphia of the shops, in its 
state of purity, and as the extraneous matter with 
which it is associated has no effect on the animal sys- 
tem, it may be considered as good an article, and 
should be preferred for general use, in consequence 
of being much less expensive. As this preparation 
will always possess uniform strength, and a like 
proportion of opium, it certainly deserves a con- 
spicuous place among our pharmaceutical prepara- 
tions, and justly merits to supersede entirely the 
common black drop of our shops, which is a very 
uncertain preparation, differing every where in ac- 
tivity from the indefinite and vague manner it is 
directed to be made, to say nothing of the worse than 
useless articles which enter into its composition, such 
as yeast, nutmeg, and saffron.* The black drop 

• It is a singular circumstance, that so imperfect and unsci- 
entific a preparation should so long have maintained a place 
in our materia medica. I believe there is no formula, not 
even for the most innocent compound, so extremely indefi- 
nite, and allowing so great a scope to the judgment of the 
operator. In the first place, the vinegar containing the opi- 
um, nutmeg, and saffron, is directed to be boiled to a proper 
•onsistence. The activity of the preparation will consequent- 
ly be subject to as much variation as the ideas of persons may 
differ in relation to what is termed a proper consistence, and 



OPIUM. 1 1 

©wea its superiority over laudanum to the acetic 
acid of its composition, and to that alone, and it will 
be admitted by those conversant with the articles in 
question, that acetic acid exercises a most powerful 
influence in modifying the effects of opium. This I 
can account for in no other way than by its uniting 
with the morphia, thereby rendering it much more 
soluble, and consequently facilitating its effects on 
the constitution, which are directly sedative, while 

while one person after evaporating perhaps one-eighth of the 
menstrua, would consider it of proper consistence, another 
might think it necessary to reduce it one-fourth, a third might 
conceive that even one-half was the right consistence, and the 
strength of the preparation would consequently be subject to 
a like enormous variation. In the second place we are di- 
rected to digest for seven weeks, and then place in the open air 
until it becomes a syrup; we cannot see the propriety of digest- 
ing so long a time, if at all, when the menstrua, if not saturat- 
ed by the previous boiiing, has at least, taken up all its solu- 
ble matter. Exposing it to the air until it becomes a syrup, is 
subject to as many objections as boiling to a proper consis- 
tence, and is almost as indefinite, as the consistence of a syrup 
is of no fixed standard, but varies from a thin fluid, to the den- 
sity of honey. It is lastly directed to be bottled, and to add 
a little sugar to each bottle, what quantity is meant by a little 
sugar, and what size the bottles are, to which it is to be 
added, we are left to conjecture ; independent of the useless 
addition of sugar to what is already a syrup ; the strength of 
the article must be diminished in proportion to the size of the 
bottles, and quantity of sugar to be added ; we think an arti- 
cle so active as the black drop, should be prepared with more 
care, and particular and specific directions given for the mode 
of its preparation. An ingenious essay upon this subject U 
given by Mr. Thomas Evans, in the Journal of the Philadel- 
phia College of Pharmacy. 



12 opium. 

the effects of opium in its natural state are stimu- 
lating.* 

It has been recommended, by Mr. Robiquet, to 
make a watery infusion of the opium, and evaporate 
the aqueous solution to the consistence of thin honey, 
which is to be digested in aether, instead of the pow- 
dered or shaved opium, (as described in the above, 
and Dr. Hare's formula given in the Philadelphia 
Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences, No. 
IX. New Series.) I consider this a worse than use- 
less expenditure, for the asther will act fully as well* 
if not more readily, upon opium in powder than upon 
an extract containing water, and it is generally ad- 
mitted, at least by the best authorities, Coxe, Thom- 
son, and Paris, that the narcotic powers of opium 
are impaired by boiling in water, under exposure to 
air, hence it is that the officinal preparation, opium 
purificatum, which formerly was highly recommend- 
ed, is found to be no better, if not less active, than 
crude opium, from which circumstance it has become 
almost obsolete, and, rarely to be found in our shoj>3. 
Under this article, Dr. Coxe, in his Amcricn Dispen- 

• Dr. Joseph Hartshorxe, in consequence of the urieer-. 
tainty of the'strength of the black drop of the shops,has adopted 
the following preparation, which has been extensively employ- 
ed, and found to possess all the advantages of that article : — 

Turkey opium, • . .Jj. 

Strong Vinegar, . . . gvj. 
Alcohol, . . . . Jiv. 

Triturate the opium with vinegar, add the alcohol, and digest 
for ten days. 



OPIUM. 13 

satory, very justly observes, that in consequence of 
the changes which opium undergoes by solution and 
subsequent evaporation, (alluding to the opium puri- 
licatum,) well selected pieces are to be preferred to 
this preparation. I cannot see the object in, or the 
advantage that can result from, making a watery 
extract, as the opium deprived of narcotine, will be 
quite as subject to the action of proof spirits, or any 
other menstrua, with its facculencies, as the crude 
opium. We do not make a watery extract of opium 
in the preparation of laudanum, and it would be quite 
as necessary in this case as in the former. Besides, 
water is not the most eligible menstrua for the solution 
of the active matter of opium. Morphia is sparingly 
soluble in water, and the meconiate nearly the 
same, you, therefore, obtain but a portion of the 
sedative principle, as a part of the morphia will re- 
main with thefaeculencies undissolved, consequently, 
with an increased labour and expense, a less active 
preparation is obtained, than if the crude opium 
were at once submitted to the action of aether, and 
the residue to proof spirits, as in the above formula, 
to which the addition of acetic acid is an admirable 
improvement, rendering the morphia more soluble, 
and consequently more active, in the same manner, 
and nearly the same ratio, as sulphuric acid united 
with quinine, (by increasing its solubility,) renders it 
much more active and efficient. Dr. Thomson, 
speaking of morphia, observes, that it being scarcely 
soluble in water, or in the fluids of the stomach, in 
its uncombined state, does not display in a striking 

B 



14 OPIUM. 

manner its properties when exhibited alone, but 
these are very striking when combined with an 
acid, particularly the acetic. 1 would here remark, 
that the acetate of morphia,* of the shops, is a sub- 
acetate, and is less active than the acetate or super- 
acetate, which, being a deliquesent salt, must neces- 
sarily be kept in solution ; it is, therefore, requisite 
in making the solution from the sub-acetate, to add 
acetic acid rather in excess than under neutraliza- 
tion. The following is the formula I have adopted, 
which will make a handsome solution, and is a pre- 
paration that will keep: — 

Sub-acetate of morphia, - - grs. xii. 

Alcohol, acidulated with twelve drops 
of acetic acid (pure concentrated 
pyroligneous acid,) ^i. 

Distilled water, ... - "g\. 

Dissolve the morphia in the acidulated alcohol, and 
add by degrees the water, and filter. Dose of the 
solution, from fifteen to twenty drops. 

This preparation has been very successfully used 
by Dr. Holcombe, of Allentown, and Dr. Canfjeld, 
of Arneytown, New Jersey, in cases where other 
preparations of opium could not be administered, in 
consequence of producing those unpleasant and dis- 

* I found, in one instance, the morphia under the name of 
acetate of morphia, perfectly uncombined with acid. This is 
a much less active medicine, and it is therefore highly im- 
portant to test this salt where you wish to administer it in sub- 
stance. When in solution it must be united with acid, as mor- 
phia is insoluble in water. 



OPIUM. 15 

dressing sensations which frequently result from their 
use. This preparation is now extensively employed, 
and is attended with the most desirable conse- 
quences. 

Narcotine. — By the following process I obtained 
jiarcotine in a perfectly pure state. 

Digest ^i. of coarsely powdered opium in one 
pint of aether, for ten days, frequently submitting it 
to ebullition in a water bath, separate the aether and 
add fresh portions until the opium is exhausted, eva- 
porate at the common temperature of the atmos- 
phere, by placing the setherial solution in a salt- 
mouth bottle, remove the stopper, and cover the 
mouth with bibulous paper, to prevent impurities 
falling in, and protract the evaporation. As the 
aether recedes, it leaves the sides of the bottle coated 
with crystals of narcotine, as the solution becomes 
more dense, the crystals enlarge and accumulate, and 
the bottom of the vessel is covered with large trans- 
parent crystals, accompanied with a brown viscid 
liquor, and extract, which contains an acid, resin, 
caoutchouc, &c. Separate these substances from 
the crystalline mass and wash the salt in cold aether, 
to separate more effectually the extract or colouring 
matter. After the crystals have been sufficiently 
washed, dissolve them in warm aether, evaporate as 
before, when most beautiful snow white crystals of 
perfectly pure narcotine will adhere to the sides of 
Ihe vessel. Those on the sides of the bottle assume 
plumose and arborescent forms, which, being made 
md of delicate acicular crystals of a somewhat silky 



16 OPIUM. 

lustre, exhibit* a most beautiful appearance. As the 
as the rial solution becomes more dense by evapora- 
tion, the crystals enlarge, and the bottom of the ves- 
sel, as before, is covered with pure narcotine, as- 
suming the rhombodidal prismatic form, with some 
beautiful modifications of macled crystals. By pick- 
ing out the largest and most regular crystals and 
again dissolving them and evaporating and repeating 
the same process, each time selecting the largest and 
best crystals, I obtained crystals one-eighth of an 
inch in diameter, and I believe by continuing in the 
same manner, much larger might be obtained, as 
they increase in size by every crystallization. 

Resin , Caoutchouc, Oil, and Acid. — These sub- 
stances are the constituents of the extractive matter 
which covers the crystals, and is separated in the 
manner above described ; on evaporation it forms 
an extract without signs of crystallization. This 
substance appears to possess all the heavy narcotic 
odour of the opium. The narcotine, when perfectly 
separated from this substance, has -very little odour, 
and the denarcotised extract and laudanum posses- 
ses less; in fact, so little, that it could hardly be de- 
tected as a preparation of opium by the odour, the 

strong odour of the extract arises from the oil of 

i 
opium which it contains. The activity of Baume's 

celebrated extract, is considered by Neumann, to 
reside in the oil and resin. The acid which exists In 
this compound, has not been sufliciently examined 
to say any thing definite in relation to it. The cha- 
racters of the caoutchouc are very prominent f 



OPIUM. 17 

have not yet tried the effects of this combination 
upon animals, nor have I seen any description of it, 
but judging merely from its sensible characters, it 
would appear more active than the narcotine. 

Morphia. — This substance exists in opium, united 
with meconic acid ; its action on the human body 
is that of a direct sedative, and possesses all the ad- 
vantages which we may expect to find in opium, 
without any of its inconveniences. Different modes 
for the preparation of this article have been de- 
scribed by Roeiquet, Derosne, Choulant, Stek- 
T0ERNER, and others-; Dr. Thomson gives an easy 
method to obtain it in a state of purity. He employs 
ammonia instead of magnesia to decompose the 
natural meconiate, &c. (see Annals of Philosophy 
for June, 1820.) The sedative powers of morphia 
becomes more manifest when combined with an acid, 
particularly the acetic, which arises from increasing 
its solubility. Morphia is very soluble in olive oil, and 
according to the experiments of Mr. Majendie, the 
compound acts with great intensity. 1 am indebted 
to Dr. Coxe, for the following interesting history of 
the crystalline forms of its saline compounds. 

The carbcnat crystallizes in short prism?. 

Acetate in soft silky prisms, is very soluble, and 
extremely active — more so than any of its combi- 
nations. 

Sulphate in arborescent crystals, next in solubility 
io the acetate, and rather less active. 

Muriate in plumose crystals, much less soluble, 

B2 



18 OPJtiM. 

when evaporated, it concentrates into a shining white 
plumose mass on cooling. 

Nitrate in prisms grouped together. 
. Meconiate in oblique prisms sparingly soluble. 

Tartrate in prisms. 

From either of the above combinations, morphia, 
may be separated by ammonia. 

The acetate of morphia is the most active prepa- 
ration, and as it is a very deliquescent salt, is ex- 
tremely difficult to obtain in crystals; under these 
circumstances the following process has been re- 
commended to convert the morphia into the acetate. 
Take morphia, four parts, distilled water, eight 
parts ; dilute the morphia in a procelain vessel, 
afterwards add acetic acid, sp. gr. 1 .075, or pure con- 
centrated pyroligneous acid until turnsole paper be- 
comes scarcely converted red, evaporate the solution 
to the consistence of syrup, continue the evaporation 
slowly, either in the sun or in a stove, collect the 
salt and reduce it to powder.** 

The sulphate is the next most active salt of mor- 
phia, and is employed where patients have been ac- 
customed to the use of the acetate, for generally, by 
varying the salts of alkaline medicines, their action 
may be kept up longer without increasing the dose 
too considerably. Formulas for the preparation of 
the acetate and sulphate in solution, syrup, pills, &c. 
are given in Hayden's Formulary and Formulaire de 
Montpellier. The other combinations of morphia 
with the exception of the citrate, tartrate, and me- 
coniate, have not yet been employed in medicine. 
• Pharmacopia Gallica, 1818, p. 387, 



OPIUM. 19 

Mtconic acid exists in combination with morphia 
in crude opium, forming a meeoniate of morphia; 
it is to this salt that laudanum owes its narcotic ef- 
fects. Our distinguished chemist, Dr. Hare, has 
given, in the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and 
Physical Sciences, No. IX. New Series, an easy pro- 
cess for obtaining this acid, and also a very delicate 
test and easy mode of detecting minute quantities of 
opium in solution ; his observations on this subject 
are well worthy the attention of the chemist and 
pharmaceutist. 

Fcsculencies., S/c. — Fasculencies and insoluble mat- 
ter consist chiefly of the leaves., capsules, and stems 
of the poppy ; besides these, however, extraneous 
matters are frequently found, having been fraudulent- 
ly introduced to increase its weight. The insoluble 
matter in different parcels of opium vary from one 
and a half to near three drachms in the ounce. 

The effects of opium are generally so well known, 
that it is unnecessary to give a description ;* it some- 

* The following- particular account of the effects of opium 
-on the Turks, by Baron de Totr, may be interesting- to many 
readers. Speaking of those who give themselves up to its im- 
moderate use, he says-: — Destined to live agreeably only 
when in a sort of drunkenness, these men present above all a 
curious spectacle, when they are assembled in a part of Con- 
stantinople, called tehiaky tchakchisst, the market of opium- 
eaters. It is there that, towards evening", one sees the lovers 
of opium arrive by the different streets which terminate at the 
Solymania, whose pale and melancholy countenances would 
inspire only compassion, did not their stretched necks, their 
heads tw r isted to the right and left, their back bones crooked, 
one shoulder up to the ears, and a number of other whimsical 



^0 OPIUM. 

times, however, exercises very remarkable and 
singular effects on the constitution, differing mate- 
Attitudes, which are the consequences x>f the disorder, present 
the most ludicrous and the most laughable picture. A long 
tow of little shops is built against one of the walls of the place 
where the mosque stands. 'These shops are shaded by an ar- 
bour, which communicates from one to the other, and under 
which every merchant takes care to place a small sofa for his 
customers to sit on, without hindering the passage, who place 
themselves in succession to receive a dose proportioned to the 
degree of habit and want they have contracted.- The pills are 
soon distributed ; the most experienced swallow four of thete, 
larger than olives, and every one drinking 1 a large glass of cold 
water upon it, wails in some particular attitude for an agreea- 
ble reverie, which at the end of three quarters of an hour, or 
an hour at most, never fails to animate these machines, and 
make them gesticulate in a hundred different manners, but 
they are always very extraordinary and very gay. This is the 
moment when the scene becomes most interesting, all the ac- 
tors are happy, each of them returns home in a state of total 
tbriefy, but in the full end perfect possession of an happiness 
which reason i3 not able to procure him Deaf to the hoot- 
■ings cf the passengers they meet with, who divert themselves 
by making* them talk nonsense, every one of them firmly be- 
lieves himself in possession of what he wishes : they have the 
•appearance and the feeling of it; the reality frequently does 
not produce so much pleasure. The same thing 1 happens in 
private houses, where the master sets the example of this 
strange debauch. The men of the law are most subject to it; 
and all the dervises used to get drunk with opium, before they 
learned to prefer the excess of wine. There are instances of 
persons getting drunk indifferently with opium or with bran- 
dy. There is a decoction which is made of the shells and 
■seeds of the poppy; this the Persians call locquenor, they sell 
it publicly in all their cities, as they do coffee. The Persians 
say it entertains their fancies with pleasant visions and a kind 
®f rapture j they very soon grow merry, tiiea burst into & 



OPIUM. 21 

rially in its action on different individuals. A case 
is mentioned in the Archives Generates de Medicine 
lor Dec. 1826, of a lady of nervous temperament, 
who on taking a draught in which there was half a 
grain of acetate of morphia, suddenly sunk into a 
state of syncope, which continued for two or three 
hours ; it was several times repeated at several inter- 
vals of an hour or two, and attended with the 
same results. Dr. Dewees met with an instance in 
which the opium invariably purged, and was in the 
habit of employing it as a purgative in this case, in 
doses of two grains, purgatives not producing their 
usual effects ; he has also met with one instance in 
which opium excited violent coughing, even when 
administered in enema.* Dr. Rousseau informed 
me he had a case somewhat similar to the former, 
(an unmarried lady of thirty-four years,) where 
opium universally acted as a purgative ; the denar- 

laugh, which continues till they die away in a swoon. It is 
found by those who have a disposition for jesting" to increase 
that extremely. After the operation of this remedy, the body 
grows cold, pensive, and heavy ; and in this dull and indolent 
situation it remains till the dose is repeated. It is curious to 
observe the countenances of those who use this decoction, be- 
fore its operation, and when its effects have taken place. — 
When they come into the decoction-house, they are dull, pale, 
and languid; but as soon as the remedy begins to operate, 
they are quite changed; they run into all the extravagancies 
of mirth and laughter, and such an uproar is produced, that it 
would be more proper to give it the name of the mad-house 
.than decoction-shop. — (Crcmpk on Opium.) 

* See the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical 
Sciences, No. IX. New Series, p. 147", 



22 opium. 

cotised laudanum administered by Dr. Rousseau to 
the same patient, did not produce this singular effect, 
although continued for several days.* This same 
gentleman also informs me that it is not unfrequent in 
his practice to meet with cases in which opium acts 
as a purgative, and has discovered that the addition of 
tartaric acid increases considerably its purgative 
effects. 

The several preparations of opium as above des- 
cribed, may be procured at Carpenter's Chemical 
Warehouse, No. 301, Market street, Philadelphia. 

It is stated that highly rectified asther is the only 
menstrua for the solution of narcotine. If this is the 
fact, I cannot understand how laudanum contains 
this principle when its menstrua is nothing stronger 
than proof spirits, and that nearly saturated with the 
gummy, resinous, and other soluble matters of the 
opium. 

I am about instituting some experiments upon the 
residue of opium after laudanum has been made, and 
also upon the matter precipitated from laudanum 
after longstanding, the results of which I hope to 
submit in a subsequent number of the Philadelphia 
Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences. 

* Dr. Rousseau has since informed me, that on further con- 
tinuing the use of the denarcotised tincture, the purgative ef- 
fects recurred, and he was consequently obliged to suspend 
hi administration, 



opium. 23 

Additional Remarks on the Dznarcotsied Acidulous 
Tincture of Opium. 
Subsequent experiments have decidedly given pre- 
ference to the. acidulous tincture of denarcotised 
opium, it is certainly one of the most valuable pre- 
parations of this article, and is a highly valuable sub- 
stitute for the black drop, which is preferred to lau- 
danum on account of its small dose, and not produc- 
ing nausea or the unpleasant stimulating effects of 
opium, it is, however, objectionable as before stated, 
for the uncertainty of its strength resulting from the 
vague and indefinite mode of its preparation. My 
friend, Dr. Samuel Jackson, of Northumberland has 
corroborated this statement in his valuable paper in 
the American Journal of Medicaftciences, No. XL 
for August, 1830, page 319, speaking of the use of 
Dr. Hartshorne's acetated tincture of opium, which 
is the same as my acidulated denarcotised tincture, 
with the exception of using common opium instead 
of denarcotised. He there states, " This is a substi- 
tute for the uncertain preparation, black drop, and 
is supposed to be suitable to those constitutions on 
which laudanum and common opium act in a well 
known unfriendly manner, this proposition is true in 
part only, for while it comforts some of these excita- 
ble persons, it distresses others in the usual way of 
common laudanum. Here, then, we have the most 
happy resource in the denarcotised opium, which 
we confidently believe, from much experience brings 
comfort to all. But " nil omni parte beatum," it oc- 
casions costiveness like common laudanum. Whe- 



24 opium. 

ther this evil, with all the rest, is avoided by- Carpen- 
ter's acidified tincture of denarcotiscd opium, we 
have not satisfactorily ascertained ; but from expe- 
rience zve are ready to believe that it is the best prepa- 
ration of opium now before the public" Numerous 
testimonies of like import to Dr. Jackson's just given 
might be cited in favour of this preparation, but its 
increasing popularity and extensive use 'among the 
faculty, will go farther to support its character than 
any thing which can be written in relation to it. 

O/i the Cultivation of the Poppy and the Manufacture 

of Opium, 
The southern section of the United States is 
adapted in every point of view for the cultivation 
of the poppy, and the manufacture of opium ; cli- 
mate, soil and slave population is in every respect 
favourable, and it is a matter of great surprise that 
the United States ere this, has not been conspicu- 
ous for supplying her own territories as well foreign 
markets with this expensive, highly valuable and in- 
dispensible article of the materia medica. The in- 
timation which I threw out in a former paper, pub- 
lished in our valuable periodical, the American Jour- 
nal of Medical Sciences, induced several of my medi- 
cal friends in the South to undertake the experiment, 
and for this purpose 1 furnished them with the seed 
of the papaver somniferum, obtained from Messrs. 
Landreth's, and 1 was pleased to hear the first ex- 
periment resulted by no means discouraging, and 1 
have not the least doubt but by persevering they 



opium. 25 

will prove successful, and compensate for labour 
more than any product now yielded by their 6oih 
Having had frequent applications for an account of the 
natural history oflhepapavcr, its mode of cultivation, 
and the manner of preparingthe opium, 1 will give the 
following succinct statement, for which I am partly 
indebted to Dr. Crump's treatise on opium. Opium, 
like Peruvian Bark, has been the subject of consid- 
erable controversy ; various authors have differed 
essentially in their views of this article, differing not 
only in the investigation of its constituent principles 
and modus operandi, but in the most obvious facts 
of its natural history. These controversies have 
now been settled by careful experiments, and the 
manner of its production and preparation is now 
perfectly understood, so as to remove difference of 
opinion on these points. 

Opium is produced in various parts of the world. 
That of our shops is generally imported from Smyr- 
na, and is commonly called Turkey opium, it comes 
in cakes from four ounces to a pound in weight, and 
generally in cases of about one hundred pounds or 
more. There is considerable difference in the quality 
of this opium as regards its purity, some of it appears 
to be full of the capsules of the poppy, and other ve- 
getable impurities, leaves, &c. in some instances 
amounting to as much as twenty-five per cent. ; in- 
deed I have seen it in some instances with only suf- 
ficient of the inspissated juice to make these impuri- 
ties in a mass, by giving adhesion and consistence to 

them ; there is also another fraud practised by intro- 

C 



% 



OPIUM. 



ducing foreign substances to increase its weight, 
such as stones, pieces of lead, bullets, &c. which in 
some instances amount to a considerable percentage. 
I recollect once having sent to a physician a few 
pounds of opium, which externally had the appear- 
ance of the best quality, which it was, with the ex- 
ception of small pebbles, which had been introduced 
in it when prepared, as its external parts were "en- 
tire, and of a hard consistence. The physician was 
highly incensed, and at the spur of the moment he 
inclosed the rocks, as he called them, to me in a 
letter, which would have amounted to several dollars 
postage. He however sent them entirely to the 
wrong place, and I returned them to him through 
the same channel, requesting him to send them to 
the Turks where they had been introduced. I have 
invariably found the flat pieces of opium to be the 
best, much more free from impurities, and have fre- 
quently found in the same case of opium the flat 
pieces to break with a short clear fracture, while the 
thick round pieces were full of leaves and impurities, 
and I am thus always particular in selecting opium 
to reject the nodular pieces. Opium is prepared 
and consumed in considerable quantity over all the 
warmer regions of Asia, in Egypt and other parts of 
Africa, where the Mahometon religion prevails, 
being deprived by the tenets of their religion from 
the use of wine and ardent spirits, they have recourse 
to the use of opium. Egypt, and especially the 
Thebes, was long famous for the quantity and excel- 
lence of its opium, and hence the term Thebaic is 



opium. 27 

still given to some of its preparation?. Wherever 
opium is manufactured, large fields are tilled for the 
cultivation of the poppy, and the sales of opium con- 
stitutes no inconsiderable branch of commerce. The 
pieces of opium are generally covered with the dried 
leaves of the poppy, and sometimes with the husks 
and seeds of some of the lapatha or dock kind — an 
observation long since made by Dr. Alston. These 
also enter into the mass of the nodular pieces which 
constitutes part of the feculencies and impurities. — 
That opium is the product of the poppy, appears the 
only fact which writers do not more or less differ in. 
Thera are no less than nine species of the papaver, 
but that from which opium is principally obtained 
is the seventh or u papaver somniferum," although 
this species is preferable to the others in conse* 
quence of yielding a larger quantity of opium, yet 
they all afford opium of equal quality, but th« 
smallness of their heads must yield it in much lesa 
quantity. Dr. Crump states that he obtained from 
the papaver rheas opium perfectly similar to that got 
from the somniferum. 

Much difference of opinion prevails as to the 
manner in which the opium that is imported into 
Europe is obtained from the poppy, some state that 
it is obtained from the heads, stalks and leaves by 
boiling and inspissation, some that it is merely the 
expressed juice inspissated by heat, and others, that 
it was obtained from the milky juice by wounding 
the heads. In those countries where opium is manu- 
factured, that an extract is obtained from the poppy 



28 opium. 

plant by boiling cannot be denied. Dioscorides* 
takes particular notice of it, and distinguishes it from 
the juice obtained by wounding the heads of the 
poppy, which he says is the true opium, by the name 
of Meconium. Plinyt makes a similar distinction, 
as does Kaempfer in his Amoenitate Exotica, and 
Bontius in his Medicina Indorum. Many have con- 
cluded from the large quantities of opium which i» 
consumed, and from its generally moderate price, 
that our opium is merely an extract. Of this opinion 
are Prosper Alpinusj Lemery,§ Savory,|| Cbnda- 
minelF and others. I cannot, however, for varioui 
reasons accede to it, the only one of its advocatei 
who could determine from actual experience, wa» 
Prosper Alpinus, and he probably was led into a mis- 
take, from Egyptians adulterating the real opium 
with meconium. I lately received from my friend, 
Mr. J. H. Parmele, of Zanesville, Ohio, an 
extract from the heads of the white poppy after 
the opium had been separated in the usual way by 
incisions. Mr. Parmele sent me rather more than 
half a pound of this extract, by which I had am- 
ply sufficient for full experiments with it, and I 
found it possessed little or none of the effects y>t 

* De Materia Medica, lib. 4, c. 25. 
f Naturali Historia, lib. 20, c. 18. 

* Medicina Egyptiorum, lib. 4, c. 2. 

§ Dictionnaire des Drogues, art. opium. 
j Dictionnaire de Commerce. 

f Mem. de 1' Academic des Science! pou? V tn> 17i2/ p.. 
42U 



OPIUM. 



2<> 



opium, in small doses it had no effect, and taken jn 
large doses, it rather nauseated than produced any 
anodyne effects which proves their opium if atalrjudi- 
ciously managed, must be obtained by incision, as 
the additional quantity which would be obtain- 
ed by boiling or expression, would only increase 
the weight, without adding strength, and consequent- 
ly much reduce the activity of the opium, as also to 
make it very uncertain, varying according to the 
quantity of extractive matter which might be mixed 
with the opium, which would never be uniform, but 
differ more orlcss whenever it was prepared. Kaemp- 
fer, who lived two years in Persia, asserts positively 
that the opium is obtained from the heads by incision 
and particularly describes the operation. The in- 
cision, he says, are made with a fine edged knife in 
the evening, and the juice being collected next day, 
is inspissated to the consistence of opium.* A sim- 
ilar account is given by Garcias.t But that opium 
is obtained by incision, is placed beyond a doubt by 
Mr. Ker, who has given a very accurate description 
of the manner in which the poppy is cultivated, and 
the opium obtained from it by incision, in the pro- 
vince of Bahar, in the East Indies. The seeds, 
according to him, are sown in quadrangular areas, the 
intervals of which are formed into aqueducts for 
conveying water to each area. The plants are al- 
lowed to grow six or eight inches from each other, 

* Amanitates Exotica, Fasc. 31b. 15. 
f Historiua aramatum and simplicium lib. 1, «. 4 

C 2 



30 opium. 

and are plentiful!/ supplied with water till they are 
eix or eight inches high, when a nutrient com- 
post of dung, ashes, and nitrous earth, is laid over 
the areas. A short time previous to the appearance 
of the flowers, they are again well watered, till the 
capsules are half grown, when the watering is stop- 
ped and they begin to collect the opium. The pro- 
cess by which it is effected, is simply by making at 
Bun-set two longitudinal incisions from below up- 
wards, without penetrating the cavity, with an in- 
strument which has two pom's, which should be as 
sharp as a lancet, the incisions should be repeated 
€very evening until each capsule has received six or 
-eight wounds, and they are then allowed to ripen 
their seeds. The juice which exudes is collected in 
the mornings and being inspissated to a proper con- 
sistence by working it in an earthen pot- in the sun's 
heat, is formed into cakes for sale. (See Medical 
Observations and Inquiries, vol 5, Article 28;. also, 
in support of the same opinion, Chardin's Travel* 
into Persia. 
, In addition to this very particular account given 
by an ocular witness, of the manner in which opium 
is extracted by incision in the East Indies; we have 
further proof that the whole quantity produced in 
Persia, Natolia,and other countries, is obtained in a 
similar way, from considering that opium may be 
extracted by incision ftom the poppies of our own 
climate, perfectly similar to that imported from these 
countries; while neither the extract of the poppies 
produced by boiling, nor the inspissated expressed 
juice, bear an/ resemblance to it. These facts, it 



OTIUM. 31 

■appears, were first ascertained by Dr. Alston.* I 
have myself, says Dr. Crumpe, extracted from our 
own poppies a pretty considerable quantity of 
opium, which differs from that of the shops, only 
lin smelling stronger, and being to the taste more 
bitter and pungent, its superiority, however,* in these 
respects, Seemed gradually to diminish. In obtain- 
>in-_5 it I followed sometimes the method mentioned 
by Ksenipferj. making five incisions at a time, some- 
times that described by Mr. Ker, making but two, 
and think "the one answers in the end just as well as 
•the other. Opium h frequently of a very dark co- 
Jour, which ^arises sometimes from the iron instru- 
ments employed in collecting it ; the chalybeate 
striking a black colour "with the astringent matter of the 
juice. For when opium (as has been proved by 
experiment, was collected by making the incisioui 
with a sharp piece i&, and a shell to collect the 

juice, if opium of a clearer reddish browa 

than i> usually obs? 

Notwithstanding that pure opium is obtained by 
incision alone, it must be admitted that opium is al- 
most always more or less adulterated, and sometimes 
mixed with the expressed juice, extract of the 
plant, and other foreign substances. In twelve part* 
of opium officinarum there will be generally found 
from three to three and a half of feculencies insolu- 
ble in water or alcohol ; and Dr. Crump states, that 
sn the opium which he collected, there were but tvvu 
.parts insoluble, which seemed principally composed 

* Medical Essays, vol. V« 



32 OPIUM. 

of the external cuticle of the capsule which was 
separated in scraping off the juice. I have no doubt 
it might be collected perfectly pure by a little more 
care in its preparation, or the juice might be strained 
when liquid, or rendered more limpid by the addition 
of a little spt. of wine, by which it could be filtered 
and inspissated in the sun as usual ; and I would par- 
ticularly suggest to those who may think proper to 
cultivate the poppy and prepare the opium, to be 
very particular in getting it as free from feculencie* 
as possible, and thus let the American opium be dis- 
tinguished for its purity. I have remarked that the 
English opium was much superior to the Turkey, 
being much purer, and more active in the same 
doses, and producing more morphia, and command- 
ing a higher price in the market, which arose entirely 
in consequence of the particular care in its prepara- 
tion. Mr. Ker supposes that the poppy may be cul- 
tivated to advantage on ground of little value. Aa 
acre, he says, yields in the East Indies, sixty pounds 
of opium, which at the usual price, would be between 
2 and 300 dollars. I have no doubt it might be 
made to yield nearly the same amount in this coun- 
try ; the experiment, at all events, may easily be 
made, and seems worthy of attention. If any over, 
plus remained after our own demands, a ready mar- 
ket would be found for it in the East Indies, where its 
consumption is very considerable, and price gene- 
rally high. Several of my medical friends have suc- 
cessfully prepared the opium trom seeds which I 
sent them. Dr. Chas. S. Lucas, of Mount Meigs, 



opium. S3 

-Alabama, cultivated the poppy and prepared opium 
fully equal to the Turkey, and if the price of labour 
.nvas less expensive, lie informs me he could advan- 
tageously cultivate it in preference to cotton," which 
is the staple commodity of that country ; my friend 
Dr. A. Jones, of Lexington, Georgia, to whom I sent 
*ome of Messrs. LandretlVs seeds, has also been suc- 
cessful in his experiments, I am indebted to him 
for the follo'.v:: ig interesting facts in relation to the 
*ame, as extracted from his letter to me, of July 12th, 
1830: — The seed came to hand about the middle of 
March ; about the end of the same month I sowed 
on a square of my garden, about half of the seeds 
you sent me, reserving the balance till later in the 
spring. The piece of ground I sowed the first seed 
on, was of alight, loose, and rather sandy soil, which 
was well manured for the purpose, and comprehend- 
ed a space of about twenty-five feet long by ten or 
Iwelve feet wide. They were sown and covered 
shallow, and came up very thick ; so much so that 
I had to thin out more than one half; they were 
drilled in rows about eighteen inches or two feet 
apart. By working them they grew up very finely 
and flowered by the first of June ; by the fifteenth of 
the same month the capsules were sufficiently ma« 
lured to allow incision. I made my incisions diag- 
onally up and down the heads ; I found if I made them 
longitudinally, a great deal of juice would fall from 
their heads to the ground. I repeated the incisions 
until six or eight were inflicted, 1 then left them to 
go to seed. I also left a large number of headi for 



34 opium. 

seed, without interrupting them. Soon after I begao 
my incisions a severe drought set in, in this part of 
the state, which parched up the leaves of my planfy 
and caused the further growth of the heads to cease ; 
many of them withered and died while young and 
tender, so that I do not think upon the whole, that 
I gathered half the opium which I could have done 
ander favourable circumstances. The other half of the 
seed I planted in the same kind of soil, and not one 
of them came up ; I distributed a few of them among 
my friends, but none of their seed came up.* From 
the first seed I planted I procured one fourth of a 
pound of good hard opium, and one and three quar- 
ters of a pound of seed. I would send you a speci- 
men of my opium if I had a good opportunity. Many 
of the capsules attained the size of a common man's 
fist. I am sure one hand could cultivate as much 
ground in poppies as he could in cotton. My ex- 
periments have not been sufficiently extensive to say 
how profitable may be its culture in the south, they 
have however been thus far very flattering and en- 
couraging. It will be some time however before it 
will be extensively raised, as people change very 
slowly from one object of cultivation to another. 
Since I gathered my seeds, I have placed parcels in 
several physicians hands, who have promised to 
make very careful experiments with them so that the 
success of their profitable culture will be fully tested 
in a short time. 

• This has resulted in consequence of the seeds haying been 
sown too late in the season, but as they lay uninjured in the 
soil during the winter, they will come up the ensuing spring 



My ingenious friend, I. H. Parmele, Esq. of Zanes« 
ville, Ohio, has also successfully experimented upon 
the poppy, and prepared opium fully equal to the 
best Turkey. He informs me that incisions on the 
kead of the poppy are immediately followed by a 
copious flow of juice, which gradually concretes, 
it can be taken from the head a short time after it 
flows, as it soon becomes indurated, but even after it 
has become inspissated to a proper degree to be re- 
moved from the heads, the loss of weight is very 
great. In one instance I weighed carefully a fresh 
gathering from the heads, and found it weighed 106 
* ~ains, in twenty-four hours after I weighed the same 
again and found it to be 44 grains, so that the loss 

was 62 grains. 

The great desideratum is expedition in making the 

incisions, to be effected by some implement that shall 

encompass the heads, adapted to any size, and which 

will incise them all around at one stroke ; it should 

consist of a circle of elastic lances, to proceed coni- 

cally from a stem ; the lancets to be gu~ged at the 

end, and furnished with guards, and encompassed 

with a sliding ring by which the lancets could be 

held adjusted to the size of a poppy head as they 

were pushed down over it. It should be made of 

the best steel and well tempered ; this instrument 

once made and successfully applied, would give a 

new impulse to the cultivation of the poppy. I have 

a fine piece of land selected, which I design for the 

cultivation of the poppy, and will commit to you the 

result of my experiments. 



36 OPIUMf* 

I think it an object for our southern planters to 
turn their attention to the cultivation of the poppy, 
as prospects of the successful manufacture of opium 
in this country are very encouraging, and all the ex- 
periments which have yet been made upon the sub- 
ject, bave produced the most favourable result*. 



OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENT* 



OK 



The cinchona, or as it is more generally denomi- 
nated, Peruvian Bark, is the product of several spe- 
cies of the genus Cinchona, which m botanical ar- 
rangement, belongs to "the class Pentandria, order 
Monogynia, and to the natural order Contorta. 

The descriptions of the species of this genus, from 
the limited and imperfect nature of the information 
possessed, have been generally so confused and inde- 
finite, as to convey little or no information. 

Cinchona is found in various parts of South Amer- 
ica, always inhabiting mountainous tracts, where it 
grows from a few inches in diameter to the thickness 
of a man's body. The bark is collected in the dry 
•eason, say from September till November, and after 
being well dried in the sun, is packed up in skins, 
forming what is called seroons, weighing from fifty 
to one hundred and fifty pounds. 

Several species are frequently mixed together iit 
these seroons, which are afterwards separated, ac- 
cording to quality ; it is not, however, uncommon to 
find several species mixed together on their arrival 
at our markets. The tree has never yet been culti- 
rated by the Spaniards, who procure it by stripping 



38 OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS 

the natural trees of their bark, which ultimately 
must destroy the genus, as they always die after the 
operation. 

Most of the varieties of cinchona being highly val- 
uable, and consequently very liable to be adulterated 
with various substances, it is therefore important to 
adhere to a critical examination of all its characters. 

The accounts of the discovery of cinchona are 
very numerous, and many from their singularity and 
improbability, are no doubt founded in fiction. It 
has long been esteemed a valuable medicine in Peru, 
where it is said the natives have adopted its use, from 
observing that animals recur to it. Be the source of 
its first employment what it may, it was not used by 
Europeans until the year 1640, when the countess 
Cinchon, wife of the Spanish viceroy, was cured of 
the ague by means of it, and hence the derivation of 
its name, cinchona. As frequently occurs on the in- 
troduction of any new remedy, considerable noise 
was made, and opposition raised against it by several 
eminent physicians ; but when admitted to proper 
experiments, its efficacy soon suppressed the ground- 
less clamor which had been too hastily excited. 

The principle, says Dr. Paris, on which the tonic 
and febrifuge properties of bark depend, has ever 
been a fruitful source of controversy. Deschamps 
attributed it to cinchonate of lime. Westering con- 
sidered tannin as the active principle ; while M, 
Seguin assigned all the virtues to the principle which' 
precipitates gallic acid. Fabroni concluded from 
his experiments, that the febrifuge power of the bark 



ON PERUVIAN BARK. JU 

did not belong exclusively -and essentially to the 
astringent, bitter, or to any other individual princi- 
ple ; since the quantity of these would necessarily be 
increased by long boiling; whereas the virtues of 
the bark are notoriously diminished by protracted 
ebullition. 

Perhaps no vegptable substance, underwent so 
many analyses, by the most distinguished chemists of 
Europe, as the cinchona; and yet so little positive 
knowledge was obtained of its true constituents, and 
such was the very obscure condition of our informa- 
tion of the active principle of cinchona, when the 
scrutinizing, critical and successful researches of 
Pelietier and Caventou, detected the existence of 
two salifiable bases, in peculiar states of combina- 
tion, in the different species of cinchona. The med- 
ical profession is therefore indebted to these in- 
telligent and enterprising chemists, for one of the 
most valuable additions ever made to the materia 
mcdica. 

Among all the late discoveries in vegetable chem- 
istry, there is none which claims so much attention 
from extensive usefulness, as that of quinine. This 
principle contains all the tonic and febrifuge proper- 
ties of Peruvian bark, in their most concentrated 
state. By the substitution of this preparation for the 
crude bark, the physician can conveniently adminis- 
ter it to the most delicate constitution, in an eligible 
form, and by no means an unpleasant dose, what pre- 
viously was considered the most nauseous and dis- 
agreeable medicine, and frequently, from its bulky 



40 OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS 

nature, (when administered in less than ordinary 
doses,) was rejected by the stomach. 

In consequence of the prevailing endemics, ague 
and remittent fevers, which, of late years, have visit- 
ed almost every section of our country, the article 
cinchona has increased very much in practice and 
demand, and become one of the most important ar- 
ticles of the materia medica. 

The descriptions which have been given by most 
authors, to distinguish the many species and varie- 
ties of this extensive and important genus, are so im- 
' perfect and confused, that they tend rather to involve 
research in more dense obscurity, than to develope 
any information. It is admitted, there is no method 
so well calculated to ascertain, with any degree of 
certainty , the comparative activity of the different 
species of Peruvian bark, as that of analysis; and 
from this circumstance, 1 have made trial of some 
of the most important species, which now occur in 
our commerce, for the purpose of determining their 
qualities, which I have done by extracting the alka- 
line principle, upon which their virtue as a medicine, 
entirely depends, and from the product of which, 
their comparative strength may be accurately and 
readily ascertained. 

It is a source of regret, that many of our country 
physicians so little appreciate the quality of cinchona, 
as to be governed entirely by the price, which from 
the following statement, will appear to be the most 
remote and inaccurate grounds for calculation, as 
ihe cheapest or lowest priced bark in the market^ is 



ON PERUVIAN BARK. 41 

&r dearer to the practitioner, and particularly to the 
patient, than that which commands the highest price ; 
for it not only requires the patient to swallow twelre 
times the quantity to produce the same effect, inde- 
pendent of the loss of time, but also by charging the 
stomach, when in a weak and debilitated state, with 
to large a portion of ligneous and insoluble matter, 
may vjve rise to diseases more serious than those for 
which it was administered as a remedy. 

The bark of commerce, in this country and in 
England, is generally designated under the limited 
nomenclature of red, pale and yellow. There are 
now no less than twenty-five distinct species of cin- 
chona, independent of any additions we may owe to 
the zeal of Humboldt and Bonpland, as well as of 
Mr. A. T. Thompson, who states, that in a large 
collection of dried specimens of the genus cinchona 
in his possession, collected in 1805, both near Loxa 
and Santa Fe, he finds many specimens which are 
not mentioned in the works of any Spanish botanist. 

Dv. Paris, in his valuable Pharmacologia, justly re- 
marks, that notwithstanding the labours of the Span- 
ish botanists, the history of this important genus is 
still involved in considerable perplexity - 7 and owing 
to the mixture of the barks of several species, 
and their importation into Europe under one com- 
mon name^k is extremely difficult to reconcile the 
contradictory opinions which exist upon this sub- 
ject. Under the trivial name officinalis, Linnaeus 
confounded no less than four distinct species of cin- 
chona; and under the same denomination, the Bri- 

D2 



42 OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS 

tish Pharmacopoeias for a long period placed as varie- 
ties, the three barks known in the**?hops ; this error 
indeed is still maintained in the Dublin Pharmaco- 
poeia, but the London and Edinburgh colleges, have 8t 
length adopted the arrangement" of Mutis, a cele- 
brated botanist who has resided in South America, 
and held the official situation of director of the im- 
portation of bark for nearly forty years. 

The apothecaries of this country and England, at 
the present day, distinguish the denomination of their 
bark, by terms expressive of the colour; and it is a 
source of still greater surprise, to find the orders and 
prescriptions of some of our most intelligent physi- 
cians, designating the species of bark they wish to 
employ, by no other, than one of the terms signifying 
red, pale or yellow; thus reducing the extensive 
genus cinchona, of not less than twenty-five species 
into three varieties, and leaving it entirely to the 
discretion of the apothecary, to give him any species, 
of a colour correspondent to that ordered. Indepen- 
dent of the great insufficiency of these terms to dis- 
tinguish the numerous species, the colour of the 
powder, is one of the most uncertain and inaccurate 
methods which could be adopted, of classing or as- 
sorting the cinchonas ; as under the same denomina- 
tion, the best species of bark in commerce, (calisaya 
arrollenda,) would be confounded with* the most in- 
ferior, (carthagena,) as the colour of the powders of 
both is yellow ; hence a physician writing for yellow 
bark, leaves it to the choice of the apothecary, to 
give him what species he may think proper, of a cor- 



OK PERUVIAN BARK. 43 

respondent colour, but varying in quality from calis- 
aya to carthagena, or in medicinal activity as from 
12 to 1. 

The importance therefore of adopting terms more 
definite to distinguish the several species of Peruvian 
hark must be obvious, and that the botanical nomen- 
clature of these species is imperfect and inadequate, 
is equally so. The quality of Peruvian bark appears 
ta be modified and influenced by locality, produced 
by difference in soil, altitude of situation, exposure, 
or some other circumstances peculiar to the location, 
hence the different provinces of Peru afford bark dif- 
fering very materially in their physical characters 
and particularly in the activity of their medical 
qualities, from which circumstances it would appear 
that a nomenclature derived from the names of the 
provinces in which the different species grow, would 
be a systematic arrangement. 

The following are some of the most important spe- 
cies which now occur in commerce, which 1 have 
submitted to experiments, and have given to each 
the comparative proportion of quinine and cincho- 
nine which they respectively contain. The names 
which are given to distinguish these several species, 
are derived from the provinces in which they grow, 
which at present, (in consequence of the confusion 
in the botanical history and arrangement of cin- 
chona,) is the most direct and certain mode of dis- 
tinguishing those species of bark which now are 
found in our shops. 



44 OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS 

Calisaya Bark — two varieties. 

Of this very important species there are two varie- 
ties in commerce. 

1st. Calisaya arrollenda, (Quill Calisaya). This 
variety is in quills from three quarters of an inch to 
an inch and a half in diameter, and from eight inches 
to a foot and a half in length. The epidermis is thick 
and may be readily removed from the bark; and 
hence you find in the seroons or cases a great pro- 
portion deprived of this inert part. It is generally 
imported in seroons weighing about one hundred and 
fifty pounds, and very seldom comes in cases ; it has 
many deep transversal fissures, running parallel, the 
fracture woody and shining, the interior layer is fi- 
brous and of a yellow colour, and the taste is slight- 
ly astringent and very bitter. 

This species of bark will yield a much larger pro- 
portion of the active principle, (quinine,) than any 
other bark in commerce, and consequently may be 
justly esteemed the best. 

2nd. Calisaya Plancha, (Flat Calisaya). This 
variety consists of flat, thick, woody pieces, of a red- 
dish brown colour, deprived of its epidermis, and 
the interior layer more fibrous than that in the quill. 
This variety yields from twenty to twenty-five per 
cent, less quinine than the arrollenda, and is conse- 
quently a less desirable article. 



ON PERUVIAN BARK. 45 

Superior Loxa or Crown Bark. 

Loxa is the name of (he province and port, where 
this bark is obtained and from which it is exported. 
]n this province cinchona was originally discovered. 
This bark has been highly esteemed by the royal 
family, and is that which has been selected for their 
use ; hence, the name of Crown Bark. The follow- 
ing are the characters which distinguish this bark. 

The Loxa bark occurs in small quills, the longitu- 
dinal edges folding in upon themselves forming a tube 
about the circumference of a goose quill, and from 
half a foot to a foot and a half in length. It is of a 
greyish colour on the exterior, and covered with 
small transverse fissures or cracks, the interior sur- 
face is smooth and in fresh or good bark, of a bright 
orange red ; it is of a compact texture and breaks 
with a short clean fracture, it is the bark of the cin- 
chona condamina, and is known at Loxa by the name 
of cascarilla fina. Yet, notwithstanding this bark 
appears to have held the decided preference to all 
other species, analysis fully indicates that it is not 
equal in medicinal strength by at least twenty -five 
percent, to that denominated Calls ay a ; this bark 
is more astringent and less bitter than the calisaya. 

This species yields from twenty-five to thirty per 
cent, less cinchoiline and quinine, than the caylisaya 
arrollenda does quinine, and the proportion of cin- 
chonine is much greater than that of the quinine. 



46 OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS 

Cinchona Oblongifolia or Red Bark. 

The above term appears to be more applicable to 
the species in question, than any other which can be 
selected, as under that denomination the best red 
bark has always been well known, and as there is 
but one other species affording a red powder, it is 
not likely to be confounded. The inferior red bark 
of which there is a considerable quantity in our mar- 
ket, is no doubt more frequently obtained. by colour- 
ing low priced yellow bark, than from the product 
of a distinct species. 

There is but one species of bark in addition to the 
Oblongifolia as before stated, producing a red pow- 
der which is called Rosea, and as that species is sel- 
dom or never known in our commerce, there can be 
little or no powder produced by it; hence, all the in- 
ferior kinds of red bark of which there is no small 
quantity to the discredit of those who sell it, evi- 
dently must be either such of the Oblongifolia as has 
been rendered almost inactive, by age, weather, or 
some other exposure, or as before surmised, isinferior 
yellow bark, coloured; and as the product of the for- 
mer must be small, it in all probability proceeds from 
the latter source ; hence the price of red bark is as 
various, (and the qualities corresponding with the 
prices,) as the yellow bark, although the number 
of species of which we are acquainted is not one 
eighth the number of the latter. 

The cinchona oblongifolia is the magnifolia of the 



ON PERUVIAN BARK. 47 

flora Peruvianna, and is known in Spain by the 
name of Colorada, and is wha£ constitutes the red 
bark of commerce ; it occurs generally in large 
thick pieces, being the product of the largest tree of 
the genus cinchona. There are two varieties of 
this species. 

1st. Colorada Canan, or Quill Red Bark which 
occurs in quills of various diameters, from one fourth 
of an inch to two inches in thickness. The epider- 
mis is white or grey, with transversal fissures or 
watery concretions of a reddish colour, the interior is 
of a brick red colour, the cross fracture short and 
fibrous, the longitudinal fracture compact and shin- 
ing, the taste not so bitter as that of the calisaya. 

2d. Colorada Plancha, or Flat Red Bark. This 
bark is in very large thick pieces, from half an inch 
to two inches in thickness, and from one to two 
feet in length, the epidermis brown, thick and rug- 
ged with cracks running in various directions. The 
fracture very fibrous inside, is of a deep brick colour, 
the taste is less bitter than that of the quill, and of 
course much less so than that of the calisaya. 

These two varieties frequently come in the same 
seroon, and from their appearance are no doubt the 
product of the same species, or perhaps the same 
tree; the quill being produced by the branches, and 
the flat thick pieces from the trunk, or the former 
from young and the latter from older trees. 

This bark is generally more scarce in our market 
than the yellow or pale, and commands a higher 
price; within a short period however, about fifty 



4o OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS. 

teroons of this bark have been imported from Guay- 
aquil by Mr. John R. Neff, which has in a small de- 
gree influenced the price of the article. I am in- 
formed by a respectable druggist of this city, who 
has been a long time established in business, that 
this is the only arrival in quantity, of red bark, di- 
rect from South America within his recollection, the 
supplies heretofore having been received from Eu- 
rope. These seroons averaged about one hundred 
pounds each. The bark was very fresh and of a 
very superior quality. The large flat pieces and 
quills were indiscriminately mixed and in some se- 
roons in very nearly equal proportions. This bark 
when first received, was of a very deep and bright 
colour, and particularly the powder produced by the 
flat pieces ; after being exposed however, in a dry 
place for about six months, it faded considerably, 
insomuch that any one not in possession of the proof 
of the fact, would have doubted whether the powder 
had b"een produced from the same bark. 

From experiments on the above bark, I procured 
twenty per cent, less cinchonine and quinine, taken 
together, than the amount of quinine produced by 
the same quantity of calisaya arrollenda bark ; and 
the proportion of cinchonine, was rather more than 
half of the product of quinine. 

It will appear therefore, from what has been said, 
that notwithstanding the great prejudices, both of 
eminent authors and skilful practitioners, which haye 
10 long existed in favour of the superiority of the 
ohlongifolia^ (red bark,) over other species; that it 



ON PERUVIAN BARK. 49 

is decidedly inferior to the calisaya, (yellow bark,) 
as the whole product, as before stated, of its active 
principles, does not equal that of the calisaya and 
cinchonine, constituting rather more than half thfr 
product, which, according to an eminent author, is 
five times less active than the quinine ; this point 
however, I think is very far from being settled. Aa 
interesting paper was read before the Academy of 
Medicine at Pari?, which is published in the Bulletin 
des Sciences Medicales, for November, 1825, in 
which M. Bally states that he has experimented 
upon the sulphate of cinchonine, with a view to de- 
termine its febrifuge qualities. He administered this 
sulphate in twenty-seven cases of intermittent fevers, 
of different types, in doses of two grain pills, giving 
three or four in the interval of paroxysms ; by which 
treatment he cured the disease as effectually and as 
speedily as with the quinine : of which twenty-sevea 
cases, there were sixteen tertian, nine quotidian and 
two quartan. He remarked further, that the cin- 

I chonine has properties less irritating than those of 
quinine, and that consequently its employment should 

I be more general, and preferred in all simple cases, 
I believe few or no experiments have been made by 

; the physicians of this country upon the medical pro- 
perties of the cinchonine ; it consequently must be 
rery little known by them from their own experi- 
ence, but it certainly is a medicine which deserves 
at least a trial. 

From the preceding description, the several spe- 
cies of Peruvian bark most co.nrnonlj met with at 



50 OBSERVATIONS AND ' EXPERIMENTS 

the present day, may be readily recognised, as the 
physical characters are prominent and distinctive in 
each variety; after however selecting the "best spe-- 
dies of Peruvian bark, by- the several distinguishing 
and specific characters, one very important adven- 
ous condition yet remains to be investigated, iu 
is a fact established beyond controversy; that age is a 
ry powerful agent in deteriorating the active prop- 
. ties of bark, insomuch that the best species oi* Pei 
in bark when old, is /little superior and sometimes 
n inferior to the Carthagenian-bark when fresh ; 
hence it is, that large parcels of a superior species of 
Peruvian bark, which would have commanded two 
dollars per pound at Cadiz, when fresh, has been 
offered publicly in this city for one-eighth the sum, 
twenty-five cenjLs, and that without a purchaser ; and 
which it appears has been operated upon by no other 
unfavourable circumstances but age. in what. man- 
ner or by what prosess age, or rather the circumstan- 
ces connected with it, act upon bark other than by 
a combination with oxygen or a volatilization of its 
active principle, I know not. Fabroni states with 
truth, that cinchona loses its solubility, and conse- 
quently its activity, by long exposure to the air, but 
does not give his opinion as to the manner in which 
itj is thus affected. I cannot, however, conceire 
under existing circumstances, how the "solubility 
of Peruvian bark can be diminished, except through 
the agency of oxygea, and it is by this means the ex- 
tract of bark, prepared according to the common 
formulas of our dispensatories, is rendered devoid of 



ON PERUVIAN BARK. • 51 

utility ; for owing to the oxigenizement of the ex- 
tractive matter, the solubility of the extract is so di- 
minished during its formation, that scarcely one half 
is soluble in water. 

From a number of experiments which I have 
made upon Peruvian bark in different states, I have 
observed as an unequivocal result, that the same 
species of bark which when fresh is very productive 
of quinine- when old will produce little or none of 
this active principle, upon which its virtue as a med- 
icine entirely depends. 

It will appear therefore an important duty, criti- 
cally to examine the state of bark as to age, and it 
may perhaps be useful in this place, to describe the 
physical characters "of bark in this state, and by 
which it may be readily known. The prominent 
features which characterise old bark, and distinguish 
it from recent, are the following. Old bark has lost 
nearly all that bitter and astringent taste and peculiar 
aromatic odour, are such prominent charac 

istics of recent bark of good quality. The spec 
gravity is also sensibly diminished, and the fracture, 
instead of being shining and compact, is dull, fibroin, 
and of a loo jrc, and the colour very frequent- 

ly passes from a bright orange to a dull brown, as the 
bark advances in age, particularly if much expo 
By attention to these few conspicuous character, 
taste, smell, specific gravity, fracture and colour, no 
mistake can arise in the selection of good bark, unless 
there is a gross deficiency in judgment. Yet not- 
withstanding the distinguishing characters of P« 



52 „ OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENT* 

vian bark in these two states are so prominent and 
striking, we regret to say, that gross mistakes have 
.been made public in this particular, by men whom 
we might suppose most capable of appreciating the 
quality, under the influence of every incidental cir 
fumstance. 

Dr. Paris in the sixth edition of his Pharmacol ogia, 
makes the following remarks under the article cin- 
chona. The frauds committed under this head are 
most extensive ; it is not only mixed with inferior 
bark, but frequently with genuine bark, the active 
constituents of which have been extracted by decoc- 
tion with water. In selecting cinchona bark, the fol- 
lowing precautions may be useful ; it should be 
deme, heavy and dry, not musty, nor spoiled by 
moisture ; a decoction made of it should have a red- 
dish colour'when warm, but when cold it should be- 
come paler, and deposit a brownish red sediment. 
When the bark is of a dark colour, between red and 
yellow, it is either of a bad species or it has not been 
well preserved. Its taste should be bitter, with a 
slight acidity, but not nauseous nor very astringent ; 
when chewed, it should not appear in threads nor of 
much length, the odour is not very strong, but when 
bark is well cured it is always perceptible, and the 
■tronger it is, provided it be pleasant, the better may 
the bark be considered. In order to give bark the 
form of quill, the bark gatherers not unfrequently 
call in the aid of artificial heat, by which its virtues 
are deteriorated, the fraud is detected by the colour 
being much darker, and upon splitting the bark, by 



ON PERUVIAN BARK. 53 

the inside exhibiting stripes of a whitish sickly hue. 
In the ibrm of powder, cinchona is always found 
more or less adulterated. This must be recollected 
as applying to the English market. During a late 
official inspection of the shops of apothecaries and 
druggists, the censors repeatedly met with powdered 
cinchona having a»hard metallic taste, quite foreign 
to that which characterises good bark.* The best 
test of the goodness of bark, is afforded by the quan« 
tity of cinchona or quina that may be extracted from 
it ; and the manufacturer should always institute 
such a trial before he purchases any quantity, taking a 
certain number of pieces indiscriminately from the 
bulk. 

Before concluding, it may not be out of seaion to 
remark, that the sulphate of quinine, as it is generally 
termed, is not a perfectly neutral salt, but in the statu 
of a sub-sulphate, and is only partly soluble in water, 
Its exhibition in water, is rendered much more eligi- 
ble by the addition of a drop of sulphuric acid to 
each grain of the salt, which makes a perfectly trans- 
parent solution, and which, I think, from its obvious 
advantages, should entirely supercede the common for- 
mula: with sugar and gum arable, a few grains ofciti 
or tartaric acid will have the same effect in dissolving 

* Mr. Thompson has suggested the probability of this c 
cumstance having arisen from the admixture of a species of 
bark, lately introduced into Europe from Martinique, resem- 
bling the cinchona Jlaribunda, and which by an analysis of M. 
et was found to contain iron, — London Disp. Edit, ?, p. 247. 

E2 



54 OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS. 

the quinine as the sulphuric acid, and has been pre- 
/erred by some. 

Dr. Parris,* on the exhibition of quinine, statei 
that he lately saw a prescription in which the salt 
is directed to be rubbed with a few grains of cream 
of tartar, and then to be dissolved in mint water. 
This, he continues, is obviously* injudicious, since 
tartaric acid decomposes the sulphate, and occasions 
an insoluble tartrate which is precipitated. 

With due deference to the exalted judgment of 
Dr. Paris, I must however, on the following grounds, 
dissent from his opinions. The cream of tartar is 
objectionable, merely from the circumstance that the 
active part of the compound may be obtained in' a 
more direct and speedy process by the tartaric. The 
combination of cream of tartar and sulphate of qui- 
nine in the above prescription, does produce decom- 
position as Dr. Paris has observed, but the virtue of 
the medicine is not in the least effected by it, and the 
precipitate, instead of being an insoluble tartrate of 
quinine as he observes, is sulphate of potass ; tartrate 
of quinine is a very soluble salt, and is held in §olu- 
tion while the water becomes slightly turbid by the 
precipitation of sulphate of potass, which however 
from its extreme minute division is speedily taken up 
by the water, when you have a transparent solution 
of tartrate of quinine and sulphate of po-tass, and as 
the latter answers neither a good nor a bad purpose, 
it of course can very conveniently be dispensed with, 

* Pharmacologia, Edit. 6, vol, ii. p. 163. 



OH PERUVIAN BARK. 55 

and therefore, as before stated, the tartaric acid 
should be preferred as having a more speedy and 
direct action. 

Pipcrine has proved a valuable adjunct to quinine; 
equal proportions of each will act with much more 
energy than the whole quantity of quinine or piper- 
ine alone. Dr. Chapman informs us, he has met 
with much success in the treatment of intermittent 
fevers by employing the following prescription. 

R. Quinine grs X 
Piperine grsX 
M. ft. Pill NoX 

One to be taken every hour in absence offerer. 

Oil of black pepper is much more active than 
piperine, one drop being fully equal to three grains of 
piperine, three drops of oil of black pepper added 
to ten grains of quinine, will greatly increase the 
powers of this remedy, oil of black pepper alone u 
a valuable stimulant in typhus fever, and is a valua- 
ble adjunct to many medicines. 

All the preceding varieties of bark, sulphate of 
quinine, cinchonine, and all the preparations of bark 
and quinine, may be procured at Geo. W. Carpen- 
ter's Chemical Warehouse, 301 Market street, Phi- 
ladelphia. 

Note. — An alkaline substance somewhat analagous 
to quinine, has recently been discovered in the cor- 
nus florida, which has been denominated cornine, 
and which has been very carefully and accurately 
described by Dr. Samuel G. Morton in the Philadel- 



5© OBSERVATIONS, EXPERIMENTS, SiC. 

phia Journal of Medical and Physical Science* 
From the most respectable sources in the medical 
profession, from various parts of the United States 
where the article has been sent, the most favourable 
accounts have been received of the unequivocal suc- 
cess of the cornine in the treatment of intermittent 
fevers in the same doses as the quinine, and the only 
circumstance which precludes its competition with 
that substance, is the extremely minute comparative 
proportion of cornine yielded by the cornus nV 



OBSERVATIONS 
ON A NEW PREPARATION 

OF 

BALSAM COPAIVA. 

Balsam Copaiva being a medicine used in the 
practice of almost every physician, its characters, ef- 
fects and uses arc consequently familiar to them. It 
h admitted by all, to be one of the most nauseous 
and disagreeable articles of the materia medica. Dis- 
guised or mixed as it may be, its unpleasant nature 
is still manifest, and little if at all diminished, com- 
municating its nauseous taste and imparting to the 
breath its disagreeable odour which is experienced 
for several hours after each dose, and frequently 
acting as an emetic, or cathartic* From these cir- 
cumstances, its use is frequently abandoned in cases 

* Our distinguished Professor of Practice, in the 1st volume 
of his Therapeutics, page 417, observes, that two circumstan- 
ces frequently interfere with the exhibition of copaiva, and 
detract from its utility. It sometimes purges, and when it 
does, its efficacy is lost or greatly diminished. If laudanum 
does not check this injurious tendency, it must be discontin- 
ued till the bowels recover their tone. To the stomachs of 
some persons the copaiva is so exceedingly offensive, that it 
canrot be retained. As it is hardly possible to disguise the 
taste of the article, it is sometimes very difficult to overeonie 
this prejudice. — See Chapman's Therapeutics. 



58 NEW PREPARATION OF 

where it otherwise would be of the highest utility, 
and even where it is almost indispensable, and other 
remedies much less efficient are substituted, thus 
protracting the cure which would have been speedily 
. effected by the copaiva. 

Since the introduction of this remedy down to the 
present period, it has ever been a desideratum to ob- 
viate these inconveniences, and it is a circumstance 
not less unfortunate and much to be regretted, than it 
is singular in its character, that amidst the rapid 
march of improvement and discoveries, (which forms 
a peculiar character in modern chemistry and phar- 
maceutical knowledge,) an improvement in the ex- 
hibition of copaiva, should so long have evaded the 
vigilant researches of the critical and scrutinizing 
chemist, and pharmaceutist. With these premises, 
I feel happy to inform the medical faculty that 1 have 
succeeded in consolidating copaiva to a proper con- 
sistence, for being formed into pills. The consoli- 
dated copaiva is the oil and resin united, and conse- 
quently possesses all the properties of the balsam. It 
may be made into four grain pills, and one or two 
pills taken three times a day ; two pills are equal to 
thirty drops of the balsam. These pills may be taken 
without the least inconvenience, neither communica- 
ting taste, nor imparting odour to the breath, it is also 
retained without the least disquietude or uneasiness 
to the stomach, and I am informed by Dr., Rousseau, 
that in large doses it does not purge. 

This article differs, very essentially, from what is 
termed extract, or resin copaiva, being not in the least 



BALSAM COPAIVA. 59 

deteriorated in the preparation, nor at all weakened 
by admixture of any foreign substance for the purpose 
of giving consistence. It is particularly recommend- 
ed to the faculty for its numerous advantages over the. 
balsam, and all its preparations. As the oil of co- 
paiva is an active preparation, it is the best mode of 
using this article, for being united with the resin it 
may be made into pills which can be taken without 
experiencing the nauseating taste of the oil, while 
the oil alone cannot be taken otherwise than in 
draught, which will subject it to the same inconve- 
niences with the fluid balsam, having its disagreeable 
taste with its unpleasant effects. 

The consolidated copaiva is manufactured and 
sold at Geo. W. Carpenter's Chemical Warehouse^ 
No. 301, Market street, Philadelphia. 



OBSERVATIONS ON A NEW VARIETY 

OF 

PERUVIAN BARS, 

WITH SOME REMARKS 

On thi Alkaline &ases. Quinine and Cinchonine. 

Peruvian bark, one of the most important articlei 
©f the materia medica, embraces a number of species, 
in the medicinal qualities of which there is a vast dis- 
parity. It is therefore peculiarly unfortunate that it* 
natural history and classification should be so en- 
veloped in ambiguity, the nomenclature of the dif- 
ferent species so inadequate and defective, and the 
various writers so opposed in their opinions on the 
subject, as to render the investigation of the student 
from books almost fruitless. The attention of our 
pharmacologists should be particularly directed to 
the cinchona, for the purpose of determining a spe- 
cific classification of those species now occurring in 
commerce, and of establishing a nomenclature for 
them, by which each variety could be readily par- 
ticularised, and at once understood by its name, 
which, in its present unsettled history, is impossible. 
In the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Phy- 
sical Sciences, Vol. XI. I called the attention of the 
faculty to this subject, and described the several 



MARACAIBO bark. 61 

species of Peruvian bark which then occurred in 
commerce, as carefully and accurately as possible 
from specimens before me, so that the several spe- 
cies might be readily known and contradistinguished. 
1 then suggested, as the most appropriate nomencla- 
ture, the names of ihe provinces in South America 
from which the difTerent species were collected, as 
Calisaya, Losa, &c. &c. and which, I am pleased to 
find, has become generally adopted, and is now the 
most familiar mode of distinguishing the barks of 
commerce. The terms Calisaya, Loxa, and Cartha- 
gena, conveys at once the particular kind of bark, and 
is perfectly understood, while the terms lancifolia 
and cordifolia involve in ambiguity as to the kind 
intended, inasmuch as several varieties of different 
qualities come under the same term, and it is impos- 
sible to determine which is intended; for example, 
the Calisaya and Carthagena, (the former the best, 
and the latter the worst species in commerce,) being 
both yellow bark, would come under the name of 
cordifolia; hence, if cordifolia was ordered, it would 
be difficult to determine whether the Carthagena or 
Calisaya was intended, or some intermediate quality. 
Having devoted considerable attention to this val- 
uable article of our materia raedica, 1 have deter- 
mined to describe every new species which I may 
meet with ; and as there has appeared, since my des- 
cription of Peruvian bark alluded to, a species not 
hitherto observed in our market, and unnoticed by 
any of the writers on the subject, I propose to des- 

F 



6Z- MAFvACAIBO BAM. 

tribe it in the present communication. This bnrk I" 
denominate Maracaibo, being brought from that 
place, generally in bales from seventy to one hun- 
dred pounds, and the importation of it is likely to be 
continued, so that we may calculate upon a regular 
supply. This bark is much superior to the Chartha- 
gena or common bark, producing more than double 
the amount of saline matter composed of cinchonine 
and quinine; also a larger quantity of extractive 
matter than the latter, and is therefore of at least 
more than double the value of the same. As the 
former can be purchased at the same price as the 
latter, it will be advantageous for the practitioner to 
be acquainted with its distinguishing characters, that 
he may be enabled to discriminate it among the dif- 
ferent species and varieties of common bark. 

It occurs in flat, short, and broken pieces, as if 
separated from the tree with difficulty, mostly of 
from one to three inches in length, and half to one 
inch broad, and rather thinner than Carthagena 
bark. Occasionally small quills are found, the lon- 
gitudinal edges folding together, forming tubes from 
a fourth to a half inch in diameter. It is of a deep* 
yellow colour ; the epidermis is . extremely thin t 
smooth, of a light gray colour, and is generally re- 
moved from the bark. It may be distinguished from the 
Carthagena bark, by being more compact, by break- 
ing with a short and cleaner fracture, and more par- 
ticularly by its taste, which is much more intensely 
Vitter. It is quite as strong a bitter as the Loxti 



€f.:\CH0MNI5 AKD QUININE. $3 

•bark, but- does not possess the astringency of thto 
'latter. The internal layer is fibrous, but in a 
less degree than the Carthagena. This bark ha* 
onlf appeared in our market within a year or two, 
and as it will supply the place of a much inferior 
article, is of. high importance to the profession. 

The quali-ty of barks depend unquestionably trp'oa 
the product of cinchonine and quinine (hoy respec- 
tively contain,- and the separation of these alkalies, is 
a very valuable mode of discovering with precision 
the comparative quality of different specie* of bark. 
Dilferent harks, however, produce various proport- 
ions of these two salts ; thus we find the Calisaya 
produces most quinine, the Loxa most cinchonine, 
and the red or oblongifolia both these salts in nearly 
equal proportions. What is the comparative value 
of these two salts is yet a subject Of controversy, & 
Considerable majority however are in favour of the. 
quinine, perhaps because most of them have not had 
an opportunity of employing the cinchonine. Dv. 
Paris goes so far as to state that cinchonine Is five 
times less active than quinine, others contend the 
reverse. In an interesting paper read before the 
Academy of Medicine at Paris, and published in the 
Bulletin des Sciences Medicates, for November, 
182*, M. Bally states that he has experimented 
upon the sulphate of cinchonine, with a view to df- 
iermine its febrifuge qualities. He administered this 
sulphate in twenty-seven cases of intermittent fevers 

different types, in doses of two grain pi!!?, giving 



64 SULPHATE OF QUININE. 

three or four in the interval of paroxisms, by which 
treatment he cured the disease as effectually and as 
speedily as with the quinine, of which twenty-seven 
cases, there were sixteen tertian, nine quotidian, and 
two quartan. He remarks further, that the cincho- 
nine has properties less irritating than those of qui- 
nine, and that consequently its employment should 
be more general and preferred in all simple cases ; 
1 believe few or no experiments have been made by 
the physicians of this country upon the medical pro- 
perties of the cinchonine, it consequently must be 
very little known to them, from their own experience. 
It most certainly deserves at least a trial. 

The high price which the sulphate of quinine ha3 
always commanded, and the increasing demand 
which its character and reputation has constantly 
kept up, has been an inducement for imposition and 
fraud ; and it is much to he regretted that this valu- 
able article of our materia medica, like others of an 
expensive kind, has been mixed with foreign sub- 
stances of inert character, for the base consideration 
of reducing the cost and enhancing the profit on its 
sale, and all this at the expense of the health of the 
suffering patient, and to the great disappointment of 
the practitioner, and not unfrequently to the injury 
of the general character and reputation of the gen- 
uine medicine. It is of high importance therefore 
to be acquainted with the most efficient means of 
testing its character, where we have any doubts of 
its purity. The- following are the characters and 



STLFHATJE OF QUIM>.E. t?D 

i of the sulphate of quinine, and the most 
simple and effectual method of discovering fraud and 

dteration in its composition, 

1st. The sulphate of quinine must be soluble ia 
rectified alcohol at a moderate heat, and if it contain 
sulphate of lime, soda, potash or any other substance 
insoluble in alcohol, the adulteration will easily be 
detected. 

2d. It is soluble in acidulated water; say one 
drachm of sulphuric acid to an ounce of water, 
which will readily dissolve the quinine. By this 
means if there is any stearine or acid margaride, 
(substances ptepared expressly for adulterating this 
article,) they will float on the surface. 

3d. It should give by sal ammoniac a white pre- 
cipitate rather flaky, which is soluble in alcohol, and 
which on being exposed to a gentle heat, will con- 
sume without leaving the least residuum, 

4th. After having dissolved it in acidulated water, 
it can be decomposed by means of a little sal ammo- 
niac, it must then be filtered and evaporated. If 
sugar has been introduced into it, it will be easily 
detected by the taste, or by fire, which will produce 
its peculiar odour. 

5th. If a white substance, insoluble in cold water, 
be found in the sulphate of Quinine, heat the mix- 
ture to about 170 degrees of Fahrenheit. This will 
render the starch soluble, and its presence may be 
determined by the addition of an aqueous solution 
of iodine, which will immediately occasion a blut 

f a 



66 SULPHATE OF QUINItftf* 

colour, and eventually a blue precipitate. The io- 
dine must be added in very small quantities, and very 
slow, or the experiment will fail. 

Physician! will be supplied with specimens of all 
the species of Peruvian bark which occurs in com- 
merce, neatly put up in bottles, with a full deicrip- 
tion of each, with a treatise on cinchona, for Five 
Dollars, at Geo. W. Carpenter's Chemical Ware= 
house, No. 301, Market street, Philadelphia. 



FORMULA 



FOR THE 



Formula for the preparation of Sulphate of Rhubarb^ 
zcith some remarks on Rhubarb and its preparation. 

Boil for half an hour six pounds of coarsely pow- 
dered Chinese rhubarb in six gallons of water, acid- 
ulated with two and a half fluid ounces of sulphuric 
acid, strain the decoction, and submit the residue to 
a second ebullition in a like quantity of acidulated 
water, strain as before, and submit it again to a third 
ebullition ; unite the three decoctions, and add, by 
small portions, recently powdered pure lime, con- 
stantly stirring it to facilitate its action on the acid 
decoction. When the decoction has become slight- 
ly alkaline, it deposits a red flocculent precipitate, 
and the fluid is changed from a yellow to a crimson 
colour, the precipitate is then to be separated by 
passing it through a linen cloth, and dried, after 
which reduce it to powder, and digest in three gal- 
lons of alcohol, at thirty-six degrees, in a water bath, 
for several hours, at a moderate heat ; separate this 
solution from the calcareous precipitate, and dis- 
til off three-fourths of the alcohol, there then remains 
a strong solution of rhubarbine, to which add as much 



SULPHATE^ pr RHUBARB. 

sulphuric acid as will exactly neutralize it, evapo- 
rate this slowly to dryness without having access to 
atmospheric air, the residuum will be of a brownish- 
red colour, intermingled with brilliant specks, pos- 
sessing a slightly pungent styptic taste, soluble in 
water, and its odour that of the native rhubarb. 

This preparation is a concentrated form of that 
valuable cathartic, separated from the ligneous and 
mucous portions, and bears a similar relation to the 
crude substance that quinine does to the Peruvian 
bark.* 

From the experiments which I have made upon 
several varieties of rhubarb, I found the Chinese to 
he the most active, and that variety which has been 
denominated in the market Russian, and which com- 
mands double the price of the Chinese, produced 
about one half of this principle, and consequently is 
much less active than the former. This rhubarb, 
in fact, appears to be nothing more nor less than 
the English variety, suitable pieces of which have 
been selected, bored, rasped, &c. in imitation of the 
Russian, but which wants in degree all the charac- 
teristic properties of weight, solidity, compact frac- 
ture, and particularly the essential quality of cathar- 
tic energy, which are all so strikingly exhibited in 
the Russian variety, and in corroboration of which 
Dr. Paris, in his excellent work the Pharmacologia, 

* By subsequent experiments I have proved the sulphate of 
rhubarb to be much less active than the alcoholic extraet on 
the next page, as will be seen by additional remarks on this 
preparation in a subsequent part of this work. 



SULPHATE OF RHUBARB. 69 

under the article rhubarb, states that inferior kinds of 
Russian, East India, and English rhubarb are artfully 
dressed up and sold under the name of Turkey, and 
I am well informed that a number of persons in this 
town, known by the name of Rnssifiers t gain a regular 
livelihood by the art of dressing this article, by 
boring, rasping, and colouring the inferior kinds, for 
which they charge at the rate of eighteen pence per 
pound. I had not an opportunity of making any ex- 
periment on the Turkey rhubarb, as I could not pro- 
cure what accorded with the physical characters of 
the genuine article. The difference in the medical 
activity of these several varieties must essentially de- 
pend upon climate and cultivation, as it is asserted 
by Dr. Rehrnan, that they are the roots of the same 
species, Rheum Palmatum, (although the Dispensa- 
tories and Pharmacologia consider them distinct 
species,) and ascribe the Chinese to be the product 
of the Rheum Undulatum, and the Turkey of the 
Rheum Palmatum; and it is established beyond 
controversy that climate and cultivation are two of 
the most powerful agents in modifying the condition 
of vegetable matter. 

On the preparation of Spiced Syrup of Rhubarb, — 
Paris in his Pharmacologia states, that water at 
two hundred and twelve degrees takes up twenty- 
four, and Thompson thirty parts in sixty, and by 
decoction its purgative qualities are destroyed, 
which decoction is extremely turbid and deposits a 
copious precipitate on cooling, and will be decom- 
posed by standing a few days, whilst alcohol takes 



*Q REMARKS ON RUBARB. 

trp two and one»seventh from ten parts without the 
mucous portion, and is perfectly transparent, and 
will remain unaltered by keeping. Hence as water 
takes up a larger proportion of mucous and inactive 
•matter, and as decoction destroys its purgative pro- 
perties, 1 think a very important alteration might be 
made in the formula of the preparation of syrup of 
rhubarb of the shops, by substituting a concentrated 
spirituous tincture of the rhubarb, spice?, &c.inplace 
of the aqueous decoction of the same, and to add it 
near the conclusion of the formation of syrup of pro- 
per consistence. The alcohol in this mode cannot 
be made an objection, as it need not much exceed, 
if any, the proportion of spirit in the former method 
to prevent the fermentation of the aqueous decoc- 
tion, and if these circumstances are correct it cer- 
tainly will be a more active and eligible preparation, 
and well deserves the practical investigation of the 
faculty. This preparation does not enter the works 
•of Paris or Thompson in any shape, but is given by 
Dr. Coxe in the late editions of his standard work, 
the American Dispensatory, in the manner now pre- 
pared, and is very extensively employed in this city, 
perhaps as much so as any other pharmaceutical 
compound, and if its activity could be increased it 
no doubt would be a very desirable object , it now 
requires a large dose to be effectual, and sometimes 
frequently to be repeated, insomuch that its use is 
•almost exclusively confined to children, the dose for 
adults frequently exceeding two ounces, which is eer- 



REMARKS ON RHUBARB. ?! 

iainlr objectional,and exeludes its use in many Gases 
where, if more active, it would no doubt be exten- 
sively employed to advantage. 

Extraat of Rhubarb. — This preparation, accord- 
ing to the method now pursued, is very feeble ; the 
protracted heat necessary to evaporate the water, 
and the absorption of oxygen, acts so unfavourably 
during its formation, that its purgative properties, 
although not entirely destroyed, are so greatly im- 
paired that its use has become almost abandoned by 
the profession. Bj the following process, however, 
a much more active preparation may be obtained^ 
and where the use of the extract is approved, thi* 
will be found to possess the proper characters. 

Take of coarsely powdered Chinese rhubarb, i^> 
digest in six pints of alcohol for seven days, and 
filter ; distil off the alcohol in a water bath to the 
consistence of thin honey, then evaporate to a proper 
consistence in a water bath saturated with muriate 
of soda. 

By this process much less heat and time is re- 
quired to evaporate the menstruum, and owing to 
the alcohol much less oxygen is absorbed, and an 
extract of much more activity is thus obtained. 
This mode is certainly more expensive ; but if the 
product is more effectual as a medicine, this small 
difference should not constitute an objection* as 
much of the alcohol is saved by distillation, and in 
the preparation of all medicines, a preference should 
be given to that method which will render them, 



w 



72 REMARKS ON RHUBARB. 

more active and effectual without regard to expense, 
unless it be exorbitant and the difference inconsid- 
erable, for where health \s implicated, interest should 
be suspended- 
Professor Coxe has the above .article introduced 
ia the last edit ; >ou of his valuable dispensatorr. 



REMARKS 



ON THE 



USB OP PIPERIHE* 

Remarks on the use of Piper ine, with the formula for 
its manufacture, together with observations and ex- 
periments on the Piper Nigrum and its prepara- 
tions. 

Since the discovery of quinine and cinchonine 
by the celebrated chemists Pelietier and Caventou, 
vegetable chemistry, previously almost unknown as 
a science, has made rapid advancement ; and the 
still further successful experiments and discoveries 
since made upon vegetable matter,.have not only swell- 
ed the catalogue of highly important and useful mate- 
rials, but have given an additional stimulus for the 
undertaking, and created an ardent zeal for investi- 
gation in those already engaged in researches, as 
well as opened a field of encouragement, in which 
numberless votaries have appeared. By these means 
this department of science, having emerged from a 
stage of neglect and obscurity, has risen with unpar- 
alleled rapidity, even within the space of a few 
years, to its present exalted position ; and the numer- 
ous advantages and useful discoveries, resulting from 

E 



74 BEMAIIKS ©N THE 

its rapidly improving condition, have caused it to 
rank as one of the most important branches of chem- 
ical science. 

Every vegetable substance in the materia medica, 
which has yet been subjected to chemical analysis, 
has produced an elementary or alkaline principle, 
upon which the virtues and activity of the medicine 
entirely depend. An instance is found even in opium, 
which, acting in a double capacity, both as a stimu- 
lant and sedative, has afforded two principles, cor- 
responding with the operations of the crude material: 
one is stimulating, the other sedative. When ad- 
ministered in combination, acting like the crude sub- 
stance ; when separate, individually exercising the 
sedative or stimulating effects, as one or the other 
may be employed. These isolated substances pos- 
sess many and great advantages over the crude ma- 
terials. The activity of those particular effects, 
which are desired from the administration of the 
medicine, being concentrated, and consequently 
greatly increased by the separation of the inert and 
injurious portions, obviates almost entirely the diffi- 
culty of exhibition, as well as facilitates a more spee- 
dy and certain action on the constitution. 

It is well known that many substances, in their 
crude state, in consequence of bulk and insolubility, 
cannot be administered in many stages of debility in 
sufficient quantity to produce the desired effect. In 
such instances, the alkali is well adapted to form a 
substitute ; for being separated from the more gross, 
ligneous, and inert portions, it requires a compa- 



USE OF PIPEIUNE. 75 

ratively small dose, and constitutes a valuaWe 
remedy in cases where the former would be rejected. 
Another, and no less important advantage in favour 
of the alkaline principles is, the uniform persistency 
of their strength. No one will for a moment ques- 
tion the many inconveniences and evils, resulting 
from the great uncertainty of effects and difference 
of activity, in most of the crude materials ; and some 
of the most important are subject to these defects. 
Peruvian bark, for example, is composed of twenty- 
five species, and each one differing in strength. Bark, 
even of the same species, from a difference in ad- 
ventitious circumstances,* to which it is always ex- 
posed, (although its external characters are some- 
times scarcely affected, its quality is always injured) 
is scarcely ever found alike. I have met with bark 
in the preparation of quinine of the same species and 
of the same importation, differing twenty-five per 
cent, in the product of the active alkalies. The 
physician, therefore, would have been deceived in 
the strength and consequent effect of this bark, while 
the quinine is universally the same. For example, 
the quinine, produced by the inferior bark, although 
much less in quantity, was fully equal in quality. If 
the practitioner, therefore, may be so much deceived 
by the difference of strength of the same species, 
how much more would he be disappointed by those 
which produced but one-eighth or one-twelfth the 
quantity — and some yield even but a trace of the 

* See Carpenter on Cinchona, 



& 



76 REMARKS ON THE 

principles upon which their febrifuge properties ex- 
clusively depend. 

The preceding observations in support of concen- 
trated medicines, are made in. consequence of there 
existing, even at this period of time, some few who 
disapprove of vegetable alkalies, and reject their use 
on all occasions, by giving preference to the crude 
material. If their conclusions were drawn from ex- 
periment they wpuld most certainly be entitled to 
credit and respect; but where a determination is 
made against admitted facts T without advancing new 
grounds drawn from argument or reason, and where 
new discoveries are denounced without even a single 
experiment or authority of any kind, I am sorry to say 
that such a course can be attributed only to preju- 
dice, and should accordingly be so appreciated. 

There is another class of opposers, governed by 
envy ; this is a worse species than the former; they 
are, however, of little importance as to influence. It 
has ever been a grievous circumstance, that, in 
almost every department of science, criticism is so 
easy a task, that the least informed and most unin- 
telligent will make bold opposition against the most 
useful and important researches, and sometimes from 
no other cause than that they themselves were not 
the authors. Their efforts are, however, overbal- 
anced by the happy consequence, that sentiment 
and expression do not, in the least, alter or modify 
•the condition of matter ; and follies of this nature, 
therefore, so far from effecting an injury or causing 
the least impediment to the march of science., merely 



USE OF PIPERINJS. 77 

offer an exposition of error, either to be dispersed by 
truth, or corrected by the light of science. 

The object of the present communication is, to 
describe a new principle recently discovered in 
black pepper, which has been denominated piper- 
ine, and which is proved from careful experiments, 
to be a successful remedy in intermittent fevers, and 
has been employed with advantage in typhus fever 
and periodical headache ; and from the respecta- 
bility of the authorities given in its support, bids fair 
to become an important addition to the materia 
medica. It may be given in doses of from one to 
four grains. It has been employed in doses of one 
grain every hour, in several cases of intermittent 
fever, with as much success as the quinine. It is 
found to be a valuable adjunct to that substance, 
equal parts acting with more energy and success 
than the whole quantity of quinine. 

Black pepper, in its crude state, has long been 
known as a valuable medicine, and is stated to be 
an excellent adjunct to bark, in intermittents, and 
the author* observes that Mr. Brande must certainly 
be mistaken when he says, it acts only as a warm 
condiment, agreeable to the stomaoh.t 

* Rennie's Supplement to the Pharmacopeias of London, 
Edinburgh, Dublin, and Pari?, 

fit may be observed, with deference to Mr. Branded opin- 
ion, that there never has been a medicine yet discovered, res« 
pecting whose qualities, some diversity of opinion has not ex- 
isted, and every medicine, however valuable, has met with 
some opposition, 

G 2 



78 REMARKS ON THE 

It is mentioned in Dr. Coxe's valuable dispensato- 
ry, under the article piper, that Dr. Frank, physi- 
cian to her Majesty, Maria Louisa, recommends the 
black pepper in different species of intermittent le- 
vers. 

This had previously been used in the east, with 
success, after every known means had been ineffec- 
tually tried. The dose is five to ten grains, twice a 
day; and Dr. Ghigini reports ten cases cured by it. 
Dr. Frank mentions seventy patients, who came un- 
der his notice between April and June, of whom 
fifty-two had tertian, tea quotidian, and eight the 
quartant fever. Fifty-four were completely cured 
within a week or so, without any subsequent relapse. 
He dips the seed of black pepper into a mucilage of 
gum arabic, and subsequently into powdered Colom- 
bo, to disguise it, and gives from five to eight pills 
twice a day. None of his patients required more 
than from seventy to eighty pills for a complete cure. 
Dr. Frank recommends to the profession to try the 
extract of black pepper, in intermittent -fevers. This 
preparation was tried on nine individuals, affected 
with intermittent fevers of different types, in doses 
of four, eight, ten, or twelve grains, dissolved in 
water in some cases, and given in the form of pills 
in others, by Dr. Clock, of Trent ; and the effects 
surpassed his warmest expectations. 

From these experiments it is concluded, that the 
extract of pepper is not only one of the test succe- 
daneums for the bark, but that it is even preferable 
to it, on several accounts. 



USE OF PIPERINE. 79 

first. It never produces disturbance in the sto- 
mach or bowels. 

Second. It never fails in producing a cure. 

Third. Those who were cured did not in any one 
instance experience a relapse. 

Fourth. It produces a regular alvine discharge, as 
well as the excretion of urine and sweat. 

Fifth. None of those who were cured, experienced 
that sensation of langour, so common to a state of 
convalescence. 

The following cases, treated w T ith piperine, are 
given by Dr. J. Gordoni, physician to the hospitals 
•of Livournc :■* 

Cleoniee, of Paoli, entered the hospital in the 
•month of March, 1324, to be treated of an incipient 
•phthisis, in combination with amenorrhea, a treat- 
ment lightly depleting for several months produced 
sensible advantages ; and although the disease could 
not be called perfectly cured, a strong indication of 
a speedy recovery was apparent, for the crachats 
.presented a better appearance, the cough was dimi- 
nished, and the plethoric habit, accompanied with a 
kind of melancholy, had disappeared ; when to- 
wards the end of September, of the same year, she 
was attacked with a violent intermittent fever, hav- 
ing the type of a. double tertian. This disease was 
treated withoutsuccess, by the skillful Dr. Guidotti, 
both by quinine in substance, and the sulphate of 
quinine in pills. On the 16th of October, having 
succeeded Dr. Guidotti in the hospitals, I found the 
** Bulletin des Sciences Medicaids, Avril, 1826. 



80 REMARKS ON THE 

patient much dejected and disgusted with the insuf- 
ficiency of the means employed. Supposing the 
failure of the quinine depended upon some neglect 
in its administration, or that the pills were perhaps 
difficult of solution, I prescribed three doses of the 
same substance, in powder, to be taken daily. Two 
days after this treatment the fever stopped short, 
and the patient recovered a repose, which she had 
lost for a month. The remedy was continued for 
six days, which prevented a relapse, which had al- 
ways been dissipated by the same remedy ; but every 
time the use of it was suspended, the fever invaria- 
bly returned. As there were not sufficient symp- 
toms to consider it of an inflammatory nature, I de- 
termined, on the 2d of November, to substitute for 
the sulphate of quinine, eight grains of piperine, to 
be taken in three doses, as the sulphate, and with the 
same precautions. The fever ceased the first day, 
and never returned. The piperine was continued 
several days after, and I assured myself of the cer- 
tainty of the cure, having attended the patient from 
her first disease until the end of December. 

Second. A man aged thirty years, at Castiglione, 
on the sea 7 shore, in the beginning of December, 
was seized with a tertian fever, which obliged him 
to enter the hospital of St. Antoine, of Livourne. Dr. 
Nicholas Orisini, being assured that the patient had 
never before been afflicted with a like fever, nor 
ever made use of the quinine, thought proper, as a 
good opportunity, to employ in this case the piper- 
ine, to assure himself of its efficacy. With this view, 



TTSE OF PIPER I SE. 



81 



he let the fever run out one of its intermissions, 
without employing any remedy, in order to be bet- 
ter acquainted with the nature of the disease. He 
then ordered a scruple of piperine, divided into six 
pills, to be taken in three doses, the last of these 
doses to be given two hours before the fever, and 
the two others at. intervals of two hours preceding. 
After the administration of this remedy the paroxysm 
-did not appear, the patient, who believed himself 
cured, wished to leave the hospital, notwithstanding 
the remonstrances of the physician, who assured him 
he could not calculate yet upon an entire cure. The 
patient soon fepented not having taken counsel, for 
on his way to the shore, he had a fresh attack of the 
fever, and was obliged to return to the hospital. He 
again made use of the piperine, and having continu- 
ed it for several days, he went out perfectly cured. 

Third. Joseph Torsi, aged twenty-six years, en- 
tered the hospital of St Antoine, the evening of the 
sixth of September, 1824; had been attacked six 
days before, with a true quotidian feyer^ and it was 
the first he had ever experienced. On the morning 
of the 17th, sixteen grains of piperine were ordered to 
be divided into eight pills, of which, four should be 
taken every two hours before the fit; but before the 
last dose was taken, the fever returned in spite of 
these means. The piperine was then carried to 
eighteen grains, to be taken in the same manner — - 
v hen the fever disappeared ; and the use of the 
iretnedy being continued for several days, preserved 
,thc patient entirely from all symptoms of reeidiva* 



82 REMARKS ON THE 

tion. Dr. Orisini, who directed the treatment, was 
fully convinced of the perfect recovery and cure of 
the patient, who, having entered the hospital three 
months after, to be treated for peripneumonia, as- 
assured him that he had no accession of fever since 
he left the hospital. 

From these observations, and many others, Mr. 
Gordoni draws the following conclusions: — 

1. That the piperine will cure intermittent fevers, 
in the dose of eight or even six grains. 

2. That it will cure fevers which have resisted the 
sulphate of quinine. 

Finally : That it will prevent a relapse of fever 
better than that substance. 

M. Meli* has also successfully employed the piper" 
ine, and considers it more certain, as & remedy in 
intermittents, than the sulphate of quinine. 

For the following interesting communication on 
the use of piperine, 1 am indebted to Dr. J. S. Rose, 
of Philadelphia, who was the first to employ it in 
this city. 

I have employed the piperine, prepared by Mr. 
Carpenter, in twenty cases of intermittent fevers, 
and am decidedly of the opinion that it will be found 
by all who may be disposed to try its virtues, a more 
certain and efficient remedy than any preparation of 
bark heretofore used. 

I have also used it in two cases of low nervous 
fever or typhus. I was induced to employ it in 
these cases by observing, that in intermittents it did 
♦Airslie's Materia Indica, vol. 2 page, 622 



USE OP PIPERITCE. 83 

not prevent (in the first intermissions) all the stages 
of paroxysm ; at the time the patient expected his 
chill he found a gentle diaphoresis, which continued 
to increase for two, three, and in some cases, for four 
hours ; on the next day, however, (of the expected 
return) there was nothing like diaphoresis or fever ; 
the patient passed this period without the least in- 
convenience, and remained exempt from a relapse, 
which is not always the case after the use of qui- 
nine. These facts led me to believe, that in typhus, 
when we wish a stimulating diaphoretic, nothing is 
better adapted, not eVen volatile alkali, which I 
have proved satisfactory to myself. In -this form of 
febrile action, when the animal powers are about 
to yield to the influence of disease, and the patient 
falls a victim to the timidity of the practitioner, 1 
have boldly withheld all other remedies, and ad- 
ministered the piperine in doses of two grains every 
two hours, until eight grains had been taken ; in one 
of these cases, the low, muttering delerium now be- 
gan to subside, the skin became moist, and the pa- 
tient, sensible of his improvement, pronounced him- 
self better. On the following day, the same doses 
were administered and repeated, for three, four, or 
five days, when I found no fever ; the strength in- 
creased, and the patient, with an inclination for food, 
was certainly convalescent. These two were the 
only cases of typhus I have treated since I became 
acquainted with this valuable remedy. But these 
alone would incline me to say, with one of our pro- 
fessors, " as well might we deny the power of bark 



84 REMARKS ON THE 

in intermittent?, or mercury in syphilis," as piperine 
in the cases alluded to. Yet I am not prepared to 
adopt his language fully and call it at Panacea, 

J. S. R. 

I subjoin the following important results from the 
use of piperine T By Dr. J. C. Rousseau, of Philadel- 
phia, whose experience with the articles of our 
materia medica, entitles his observations to the high- 
est confidence and estimation. 

Dear Sir, 

In compliance with your request to state my opin- 
ion upon the* efficacy of the piperine in the cure of 
intermittent fever, I can testify, that although I have 
been able to administer this new article of the mate- 
ria medica in few cases, it is satisfactory to inform 
you, that it has been successful in every one. The 
paroxysms left the patients on the first, and never 
later than the second day. 

. Some few remarks may with propriety be added to 
this succinct account, which may become instruc- 
tive, and inculcate the necessity of caution in pre- 
scribing it in too large doses; the following case will 
illustrate this position : 

A young girl, about twelve years of age, having 
had a return of intermitting fever, that had been 
stopped by the sulphate of quinine, was directed to 
take one grain of the piperine, made into a pill, with 
conserve of roses. She was a short time after seiz- 
ed with a vomiting, which was repeated to the num- 
ber of seven times in the space of two hours. It 



USE OF FIPERINE. 85 

then began to promote alvine evacuations to the ex- 
tent of twelve or fifteen times. The fever did not 
return, and she was directed to continue one grain 
of the medicine night and morning. It invariably 
produced alvine discharges in an unusual quantity. 

In another case, a subject of about forty: it pro- 
duced a radical cure m the dose of three grains, 
taken every twenty-four hours, and continued for 
some days after; and it is so much the more remark- 
able, as this patient had taken the sulphate of quinine 
for some days, in the quantity of thirty grains in every 
twenty-four hours, as he informed me, remarking at 
the same time? that during the use of it, he was under 
a most violent and painful state of excitement. 

I can state with confidence, that this preparation 

of the black pepper, may be as useful and beneficial 

as the like preparation of the Peruvian bark, and I 

entertain no doubt of the probability of obtaining 

similar products, from all the other peppers, having 

been for many years, in the habit of administering the 

black and red peppers, with decided success, in the 

cure of intermittent fevers. Yours, &c. 

J. C. Rousseau, M. D. 
Geo, W. C. 

I have just received the following valuable illus- 
tration of the effect of piperine, from my friend Dr. 
J. R. Black, of Philadelphia, which is an additional 
strong testimony of the success of this medicine, in 
the cure of intermittent fevers. 

Mr. S. aged about forty years, during the first part 

of last month, applied to me, with a severe quotidian 

H 



86 REMARKS ON THE 

fever, attended with rejections from the stomach, and 
with violent pain, and great determination of hlood 
to the head, during the hot stage, with cold feet and 
slight delirium. 

The case was treated with the lancet, emetics and 
purges, which on the third day changed its type to 
the tertian. On the day of intermission, sul. quinine 
was administered, which was often rejected, while it 
always increased the patient's nauseau, and head 
ache. Pipeline was substituted in doses of one grain 
every hour, to the number of ten a day. The par- 
oxysms immediately ceased, and the patient was in a 
few days discharged, radically cured. J. R. B. 

Numerous other cases might be quoted in which 
this medicine has been employed, with the like happy 
results ; but I think sufficient has been advanced, to 
satisfy the most sceptical, of its active properties. 

Alcohol and sulphuric aether are the best men- 
strua, fot the active properties of the pepper, which 
very soon impart its acrimony to these fluids. Mr. 
Brande gives alcohol and water; I am surprised that 
Mr. Brande should have omitted aether, since it is the 
most powerful solvent, and particularly that he 
should quote water, since it requires five hundred 
and fifty pints to extract the sapidity of one lb. of 
pepper. Water appears to be the best solvent for 
the colouring matter, for after pepper hat been ex- 
hausted of its acrimony, by aether and alcohol, water 
will make a dark solution, which on evaporation, 
produces an extract exhibiting little of the pungency 
of pepper. 



USE OF PIPERINE* 87 

The piperine, employed in the above cases, I pre- 
pared according to the following formula. 

Digest one pound of coarsely powdered black 
pepper, in one gallon of alcohol, for ten days, distil 
off one half of the alcohol in a water bath, add by 
degrees, diluted muriatic acid, to hold in solution the 
pipeline, then add water sufficient to precipitate the 
resin, and separate the oil; a muriate of piperine re- 
mains in solution, concentrate this solution by evapo- 
ration, and add pure potass to decompose it, and neu- 
tralise the acid, when the piperine, in consequence of 
tlie diluted state of the alcohol, and the absence of the 
muriatic acid, will be deposited in yellowish transpa- 
rent crystals. The crystals maybe obtained per- 
fectly colourless, by observing great care in separa- 
ting the oil and resin, but as there is no disadvantage 
in the colour, the additional trouble and expense 
would not be compensated. The piperine, in a 
colourless state, is insipid and inodorous ; but united 
with as much resin as enters into its crystallization, 
its taste is extremely powerful, possessing in an in- 
tense degree, all the heat and acrimony of the pep- 
per, with considerable of its odour, and I think is a 
more active preparation than the former, it was in 
this form exhibited in the treatment of the cases 
above described. I have obtained larger crystals, 
by employing sulphuric aether as a menstruum, in- 
stead of alcohol. 

The crystals of piperine are transparent, of a 
straw colour, and assume the tetrahedral prismatic 
form, with oblique summits ; I have obtained them 



88 REMARKS ON THE 

larger than the ordinary crystals of sulphat of mag- 
nesia. 

Extract of Black Pepper. 

Digest eight ounces of black pepper coarsely 
ground, in four pints of diluted alcohol, for four days, 
occasionally submitting it to a temperature near 
ebullition in a water bath, filter and evaporate to the 
consistence of an extract. This is found also to be 
an active remedy in intermittent, in doses of two or 
three grains. In a soft state it has proved very con- 
venient to give consistency to piperine or quinine for 
the formation of pills, while at tire same time it in- 
creases their activity, particularly the latter ; it is 
certainly preferable to the conserve of roses, or gum 
arabic, which enlarge the pill without increasing the 
effect. 

The extract of pepper in every formula I have 
seen, is directed to be prepared with water. This 
forms a much less active preparation and possesses 
several inconveniences, to which the above is not 
subject. 

I have employed the white and black peppers in 
the above preparations, and although it is stated that 
the white pepper is milder than the black, I have 
found it to yield more piperine and an extract of 
much more acrimony and activity, and to contain 
much less colouring matter. 

The constituent principles of pepper, are pipe- 
rine, oil, resin, extract, colouring and fecular matters. 

Subsequent experiments have proved the oil of 



USE OF PIPERINE. 89 

black pepper to possess all the valuable properties of 
piperine in a superior degree, one drop being equal 
in energy to three grains of the latter. I have com- 
binedquinine, piperine, oil of black pepper, cornine, 
gentianine, and several other tonic vegetable princi- 
ples, in the form of a mass, which I have denomina- 
ted compound tonic extract, and which has proved 
much more efficient in intermittents than any of the 
articles used singly, even in double doses. This arti- 
cle is now much used in the southern states, and has 
given the highest degree of satisfaction. 



H 2 



EXPERIMENTS 



o^r 



MERCURY 



AKO 



BLOT MASS. 



On the Division or Extinction of Mercury by Tritura- 
tion : with Observations and Experiments on the 
Blue Mass and other preparations of Mercury. 

Mercury has been considered by some writers to 
produce no action on the bod y, when taken internal- 
ly in the metallic state; this has been doubted with 
sufficient reason by Orfila in his Toxicology. 

Blue mass, Pil. Hydrargyri, or Blue Pill, as it is 
commonly termed, has heretofore been always 
esteemed, one of the most valuable preparations of 
mercury, being mild and at the same time more cer- 
tain and effieacious in many diseases, than any other 
preparation of that valuable mineral ; hence it has 
been, and continues to be, very extensively employ- 
ed in most cases where mercurial action on the con- 
stitution is required, and when properly made, and 
in like manner administered, has invariably support- 
ed its wonted and established reputation. 

In the preparation of it, the most viscid and tena- 
cious substances are employed, as conserves, honey, 



AND BLUE MASS. 91 

manna, &c. for the more speedy extinction of the mer- 
cury as it is generally termed, or more properly its 
minute division, after which some vegetable powder 
(of which starch is most proper,) is added, to give the 
mass a proper consistence for the formation of pills, 
It has generally been supposed that the mercury by 
this process was converted into the state of a pro- 
toxyde, but late careful experiments, prosecuted ex- 
clusively for the purpose of ascertaining the condi- 
tion of the mercury, have satisfactorily proved the 
contrary. 

From the remarks and experiments of Mr. Joseph 
Roux, (Pharmacien a Nimes,) addressed to Mr. 
Planche, in the Journal de Pharmacie, tome XI. page 
215, it will appear that, (although from the various 
discussions of chemists, on the method of reducing 
mercury, a conclusion has generally been drawn in 
favour of those substances which contain the most 
oxygen,) turpentine and liquid styrax will as speedily 
and effectually extinguish or reduce the mercury as 
the ox3genous fat, and that the various conserves, 
syrups, extracts, oils, meals, fecula;, and vegetable 
powders all produce the same results in that speedy 
and effectual reduction of the mercury in proportion 
to the tenacity of the substance employed ; for ex- 
ample, the extracts succeed better than the conserves, 
the conserves better than the syrups, the syrups 
than the oils,- &c. These different experiments led 
to the conclusion that oxygen was not essential for 
the extinction of mercury, and to prove which, it 
was acted upon by substances destitute of this ele- 



92 EXPERIMENTS ON MERCURY 

ment ; bitumens were accordingly selected such as 
petroleum, and maltha.* Having reduced the 
petroleum to a more than syrup consistence, the re» 
suit was perfectly satisfactory, and Mr. Roux ob- 
serves, I was then authorised to think my conjecture 
was correct, but in order to assure myself positively 
of the fact, I acted upon it free from the con- 
tact of atmospheric air. I accordingly placed a 
vessel containing the mercury and maltha, (reduced 
to a consistence that allowed the pestle to work,) in 
the receiver of an air pump, and after having made a 
vacuum I put in motion, by the means of a handle, 
a pestle surrounded by a brass stem, a little bent at 
the. lower part, which passed through the bell and 
the copper framing, by which it was surmounted. 
This experiment succeeded as well as any of the 
others and established beyond a doubt the fact that 
mercury may be extinguished without the aid of 
oxygen. 

Mr. Planche observes, (Journal de Pharmacie,) 
that from the ingenious experiments of Mr. Roux on 
the division of mercury in vacuo, by means of a sub- 
stance containing no oxygen, it has been proved, that 
the mercury in the ointment and other preparations 
exists in the state of minute division, and not in that 
of an oxyde, which is no longer a subject of doubt to 
a great many. 

This may readily be proved by melting the oint- 
ment in hot water, or by washing the blue mass in 
cold water, decanting the saccharine and feculent 
* Pitch and wax melted together. 



AND BLUE MASS. 93 

matter, and placing the remainder, (carefully washed 
from the vessel with a little water,) on a filter of 
paper, and left to stand until perfectly dry, when 
nearly all the mercury used in its formation may be 
collected ; a small portion necessarily will be lost in 
its preparation, together with more minute globules 
which cannot be collected. I treatecTin this manner 
3J. of the blue mass manufactured at Apothecaries 5 
Hall, London, in which the mercury was more effect- 
ually reduced than any I had ever seen, and obtained 
from it sixteen grains of metallic mercury, within 
four grains of the quantity originally employed in 
making the mass ; small globules were also visible 
in the residuum which I could not collect ; on exam- 
ining several drops of the liquor 1 decanted, which 
had accidentally fallen on some white paper and 
dried, it had a shining metallic appearance, aim evi- 
dently contained metallic mercury, which was proved 
after two days standing, by the aggregation of glo- 
bules. Mr. Thomas Evans, an intelligent druggist of 
this city, in a paper published in the Journal of the 
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, states that from 
one hundred grains of blue pill, which had been tri- 
turated for many days, twenty grains of running 
mercury were easily collected and numerous globules 
were still visible in the residuum. 

An effect takes place in making the pommade 
mercurielle, a preparation employed extensively in 
France, which goes strongly to prove that the mer- 
cury in this preparation is not in the state of an 
oxyde, as well as all the others ; for it is admitted 



94 EXPERIMENTS ON MERCURY 

by all without the least doubt, that in all cases where 
mercury is reduced by simple trituration, it exists in 
the same condition. In making this preparation, if 
it happens that the butter of cocoa, (beurre de cacao,) 
which enters its composition, be too suddenly cool- 
ed, the mercury, which previously had every appear- 
ance of perfec^ extinction immediately appears in 
large globules ;,to reduce them it is only necessary to 
gently heat the pestle and stir the pommade a few 
minutes, when the mercury is again reduced. I will 
ask if any man acquainted with the laws of chemis- 
try, can for a moment suppose that the mercury in 
this preparation is in any other than the metallic 
state, or attribute so sudden a reduction of the mer- 
cury, to the absorption of oxygen, when eight days 
trituration would not be sufficient to effect it by the 
ancient proceeBt 

Besides these, there are other preparations of 
mercury where it has been triturated with pulveru- 
lent substances, as chalk, magnesia, sugar, &c. in all 
which cases, the mercury exists in the same condi- 
tion as in the ointment, mass and pommaae, that is in 
a state of minute metallic division, and not of an 
oxyde. From a portion of hydrargyrum cum creta, 
imported by Charles Marshall from the Apothecaries 
Hall, London, in which the mercury was apparently 
oxydized, inasmuch that not a globule was visible, 
(when most favourably exposed on paper,) even with 
the assistance of a good microscope, 1 put a small 
quantity in vial and agitated it a short time in cold 
water; when subsided, I decanted the water and 



AND BLUE MASS. 95 

after several washings and decantations in the same 
manner, the sub-carbonate of lime was separated, 
and there remained a greyish powder, which I placed 
on a filter of paper, which by simple imbibition 
of the paper, without pressure or trituration, the 
mercury assumed the form of globules, in weight 
nearly equal to the quantity originally employed in 
the composition. 

Mercury reduced by trituration with sugar may 
most readily be tested by dissolving the sugar, which 
will leave the mercury in its metallic state. From 
the suggestions of Mr. Phillips, of London, I treated 
a portion of the hydrargyrum cum creta with acetic 
acid, having placed a small quantity of the powder 
in a vial and washed it in successive portions of the 
atid until the sub-carbonate of lime was dissolved ; 
then I threw the whole on a filtre of paper, which 
when dry exposed the mercury entire. 

As the above experiments are in the reach of any 
one desirous of proving the fact, I hope advantage 
will be taken of them and little doubt will hereafter 
exist as to the state in which the mercury exists in 
these several preparations. Although differing from 
the opinion of man\\authors of established reputation, 
I feel confident in stating the fact, inasmuch as I be- 
lieve, (from their own expressions,) their conclusions 
were drawn from external characters without ex- 
periment; as in most instances where these prepara- 
tions are ipoken of, it is remarked that the mercury 
is in the state of minute division, and probably con- 
verted into the black oxyde ; the word probably im- 



96 EXPERIMENTS ON MERCURY 

plies a direct incertitude, and speculation as to the 
real state in which the mercury exists in these pre- 
parations, and indicates that they have never been 
examined with a view to discover its condition, oth- 
erwise their descriptions must have been more 
definite. 

Mr. Rennie in his late valuable supplement to the 
pharmacopoeias, observes, that chemically, the blue 
pill is described in two ways. One party of chem- 
ists say that the mercury is unchanged and exists in 
a state of extreme division, whilst another party as- 
sert unconditionally, that mercury is converted into 
a black oxyde, which is a protoxyde. Mr. Phillips, 
on the other hand, more justly observes, that experi- 
ments are still wanting to explain the subject, but that 
it probably contains a sub-oxyde, as he supposes to be 
the case with the hjdrag. cum cireta. 

It may be remarked by some, if the meccury exist 
in its metallic state, why resort to the tedious method 
of its division? It may be readily answered, that 
independent of increased action by its minute divi- 
sion, mercury, from its fluidity and volubility, could 
not be administered in its metallic state, in the 
various doses, forms and compounds, in which the 
blue mass has been so conveniently and successfully 
exhibited. It has also "been proved by experience, 
that the mass which contains the mercury in the 
most minute division is preferable on account of a 
more speedy action, as well as being less liable to 
lose the mercury by exudation. Hence it is that the 
blue mass and other preparations of the mercury 



AND BLUE MASS. 97 

manufactured at Apothecaries 1 Hall, London,* and 
at the laboratory of Mander & Co. of Wolverhamp- 
ton, have justly been preferred as more eligible pre- 
parations, at which places they possess considerable 
advantages of improved machinery by steam power 
for the more speedy and effectual reduction of the 
mercury. It has been suggested and recommended 
to use the black oxyde of mercury as a substitute 
for the blue pill. However valuable a medicine the 
black oxyde may be, it cannot be substituted for the 
blue pill, on the ground of being the active principle 
of that substance; although I do not doubt that a few 
grains out of a hundred may be in the state of a sub« 
oxyde, but most certainly not in sufficient quantity 
to have the sole agency in the effect of the blue pill* 
but on the contrary, from its minute proportion, to 
have little or none, The black oxyde of mercury, 
however, is no doubt a most valuable medicine, and 
from the careful and correct experiments of Dr» 
Benjamin H. Coatrs, of this city, its efficacy has 
been fully established. 

As the blue mass holds an important place in the 
materia medica, and is perhaps more extensively em- 
ployed^jLhan any other compound, it will no doubt 
be desirable to have a formula which will most 
readily reduce the mercury. After a number of ex- 

* The mass is prepared at Apothecaries' Hall, London, by a 
machine consisting of an iron mortar and four wooden pestles 
driven by a steam engine. This both triturates and rolls the 
mass, and the pills are said to be stronger than those made 
by the hand, — Kennie's Supplement, &c. 

I 



08 



EXPERIMENTS ON MERCTJItY 



periments, with a view to discover what combination 
and proportion of substances most speedily and ef- 
fectually reduce the mercury, and at the same time 
preserved the mass longest of a pilular consistence, 
1 have adopted the following formula and process as 
possessing the greatest advantages. This forms a 
mass more like that manufactured at the Apothe- 
caries' Hall, London, than by any other process 
which 1 have seen. The globules of mercury are 
effectually reduced in a short time, and are perfectly 
invisible ; when rubbed on white paper and inspect- 
ed with a microscope. The mass is of a fine blue 
colour, and will preserve a pliable consistence * 
long time. 

R. Hydrarg. Par - - - 3iss, 
Manna Pinguis - - - £iss. 
Mel. desp. - - - §ss« 

Amvli - - - * Si. 

M. S. A. 

As the mercury of commerce is frequently adul- 
terated with lead, bismuth, tin and zinc, it is im- 
portant to have it distilled previous to employing it 
in the above preparation. 

The manna and honey in the blue pill are better 
than any other substance yet employed, and reduce 
the mercury more speedily and effectually than the 
conserve of roses, over which they have other ad- 
vantages. The conserve of roses is objectional also 
from occasionally containing sulphuric acid which 
has been added to increase its colour ; hence a poi- 



AJfD BLUE MASS. 

^onous sub-sulphate of mercury may be formed dur- 
ing the trituration. Dv. Coxe justly remarks in the 
fifth edition of his Dispensatory, (although conserve 
of roses is in the formula he has selected) that experi- 
ments fairly made, would sanction the manna as pre- 
ferable to any other substance for the speedy and 
effectual extinction of the quicksilver ; and what- 
ever may be thought of the conserve of roses, it ap- 
pears probable that its use is only dependent on the 
sugar in its composition. 

in making this preparation the whole amount of 
mercury should be triturated with a small part of the 
manna and honey, until reduced, (which will be more 
speedy than if worked with all the ingredients ;) the 
remaining portion of manna and honey is then to be 
added, and the whole beat up till well incorporated ; 
to which then add the starch to give it a proper con- 
sistence. This mass, when finished, has a fine blue 
colour, no globules visible when exposed on paper, 
even with the assistance of an ordinary microscope ; 
it is of proper consistence for the formation of pills, 
and will retain its moisture for a long time; a quan- 
tity made according* to the above formula has been 
kept for upwards of a year, when its consistence 
was nearly as good as at the time of its formation, 
and no globules discoverable when carefully exam- 
ined. It is a desirable thing that the mass should re- 
main soft which the above formula will particularly 

effect. I have seen blue mass become perfectly 
hard, sufficiently so to powder, in consequence no 

doubt of having gum Arabic in its composition, L^ 



100 EXPERIMENTS ON MERCURY, &C. 

quorice root and rhubarb enter into some receipts for 
the preparation of the blue pill, but the mass which 
•contains them fnay.be known by its dirty grey 
colour, and frequently becoming mouldy after a short 
time. 

As a great quantity of blue mass is badly made, 
and I believe more from not having a proper formula 
than from any want of art or attention in its redaction, 
1 am induced to offer the above, under a full assur- 
ance, from careful experiment, of its superiority to 
the common formula with conserve of roses; and 
should it prove useful in the hands of those who may 
think proper to adopt it, the author will have obtained 
the object of this publication. 



AND ITS PREPARATIONS 

"This is one of the most valuable and important 
of the medicines recently introduced. It is soluble 
in aether and in alcohol ; the latter dissolving it pro- 
portionable to its degree of rectification. Water does 
not dissolve more than ^ of its weight. 

It is extracted from the mother waters of soda, pre- 
pared from sea weed, where it exists in the state of hy- 
driodate of Potass. These waters are obtained by 
burning the fuci that are found on the coast of Nor- 
mandy, draining the water through the ashes and 
concentrating the liquor. 

To obtain the iodine, an excess of concentrated 
acid is added to these waters, and the liquor is grad- 
ually brought to ebullition in a glass retort, furnished 
with a receiver. The acid seizes on the basis of the 
hydriodate, and on the hydrogen of the hydriodic 
acid, so that the result is sulphate of potass, water. 
sulphurous acid and iodine, which rises in violet 
coloured vapours, passes into the receiver with a 
small quantity of acid, and in that state is condensed. 
In order to purify it, it must be washed, mixed with 
water contaiuing a little potass, and again distilled. 

1 2 



102 'on ioitffjgr! 

Dr. Coindit of Geneva was the first to Use the'iodine 
as a medicine, which he employed with remarkable 
success in the treatment of goitre; it has since been 
used both in Switzerland and France, by several 
.physicians, who speak very highly of it3 effects as 
a medicine in goitre, in scrofulous ulcers, &c. and 
quote a number of cases of the successful treatment 
of these diseases, by the use of iodine. The iodine 
is now used in this country to a ; considerable extent-; 
it is generally employed in the form of tincture and 
ointment, formulas for the preparation of which will 
be given hereafter. Dr. Gardiner has published in 
England a very interesting memoir on the effects of 
iodine, on the animal economy, and on its advantages 
in the treatment of goitre and scrofulous, and 
tuberculous affections of the thorax and kbdomeo, 

Dr. Barron appears to have employed the remedy 
with some success in the treatment of scrofulous^ 
phthisis, and certain other tuberculous affections, 

TINCTURE OF IODINE. 

Take of alcohol 36° 1 ounce. 

Iodine 48 grains. 

The iodine should be triturated fine with the alcohol 
in a mortar, and occasionally rubbed down in it 
after standing 24 hours, it is fit for use, and should be 
filtered before using, as there is generally a portion of 
the iodine undissolved. 

It is given to adults in the dose of from 4 to !0 

drops, three times a day in a glass of sweetened 

^.vater; the quantity may be gradually increased to 



AtfD ITS PREPARATIONS. 103 

20 drop?, (which contains about one grain of iodine) 
three times a day. . 

Solution of Hydriodate of Potass, 

Take of Hydriodate of Potass 36 grains. 
Distilled water 1 ounce. 

This solution is still capable of dissolving iodine v 
and of thus forming an ioduretted hydriodate of 
potass. If we wish to procure the solution called 
eoindet 1 *, 10 grains of pure iodine must be added to 
the solution of the hydriodate of potass described 
above. 

These preparations, whose mode of exhibition 
is the same as that of the tincture of iodine, are 
employed as well as it in the treatment of goitre and 
scrofula, in the latter case some tonic is generally 
combined with it. 

M. Magendie has for some time made use of the 
solution of hydriodate of potass both in hospital and 
private practice; he is confident the dose -of this 
solution may be increased to three gros per diem, 
without any unpleasant consequences; debilitated 
and very nervous women have taken this quantity 
for many weeks, without the least appearance of 
derangement in any function. In this dose two cases 
of cancer of the tongue recovered in the space of a 
fortnight, in the incurable wards of L? Hospice dt la 
Salpdricre. The -women were affected with thw 
disgusting and horrible disease for many years, and 
admitted into the hospital as incurables, one still re- 
aiains there, having been three months under tr'^ai- 



104 ON IODINE 

naent and is going on very well In the same place, 
a woman who had for a long time suffered under 
ulcerations of the tongue, has just received a com- 
plete cure from the use of the hydriodate of potass. 

Ointment of the Hydriodate of Potass. 

Take of Hydriodate of Potass £ drachm. 
Axunge 1$ ounce. 

Mix. — This may be used to the extent of half a 
drachm night and morning in the way of friction upon 
a goitre or glands, enlarged with scrofula; at the end 
of a week, the quantity may be increased to a drachm 
or more, according to the age of the, patient and ex- 
tent of the tumour. Sometimes by these means a 
complete resolution of tremours is effected, which 
could not be removed entirely by saline solutions. 
This ointment has been successfully used in various 
cases of enlargement of the testicles, which had re- 
sisted other • means. Sometimes, however, mere 
friction will not do, and recourse must be had to 
both modes of exhibition, but, in general, more ad- 
vantage seems to be derived in scrofulous affec- 
tions from the saline solutions. The activity of this 
ointment may be increased by adding from 10 to IS 
grains of pure iodine to form what is- called ointment 
of ioduretted Hydriodate of Potass. 

Ointment of Iodine* 

Take of Iodine - ► ■- 1 drachm. 
Axunge, - - 1 ounce. 



AND ITS PREPARATIONS. 105 

' Powder the iodine and triturate it with the lard 
in a glass mortar. This ointment is used in the same 
manner as that of the hydriodate, in. about the same 
quantity; it is, however, not as much used as the 
hjdriodate ointment, which latter is in every way 
.preferable. 

Iodurets of Mercury* 

The ProtO'loduret of Mzrcury is prepared by 
uniting solution of hydrate of potass and protonitrate , 
of mercury, which precipitates the proto-ioduret. 
It is of a yellow colour and insoluble in water, ac- 
cording to Dr. Thompson, 162 parts contain 62 of 
iodine and 100 of mercury, or 25 of mercury and 
156 of iodine. 

The deuto-ioduret is prepared by dissolving sepa- 
rately 70 parts of corrosive sublimate, (deuto-chloru- 
ret of mercury) and 100 parts of the hydriodate of 
potass, and uniting ;the solution when the deuto~iodn- 
ret of mercury will be precipitated, it is very solu- 
ble in the hydriodate of potass and in mercurial salts, 
so that care must be taken not to apply an excess of 
either of them. This preparation contains 250 parts 
of mercury and 312 of iodine. Hydriodic acid may 
be substituted for the hydriodate of potass in the pre- 
paration of these iodurets. 

These preparations are employed in the form of 
ointment, tincture, solution and pills, and have proved 
;a valuable remedy in chronic syphilis and venereal 
ailccrs. 



1 06 ON IODINE 

Ointment of Proto-ioduret of Mercury* 

Take of proto-ioduret of mercury, 20 grain?. 
Axunge - - 1 4 ounce. 

This ointment has been highly recommended in 
the treatment of inveterate venereal ulcers, in which 
it is said to accelerate the cicatrization. 

Ointment of the deuto-ioduret of Mercury. 

Take of deuto-ioduret of mercury, 20 graius. 
Axunge, - • l£ ounce. 

This preparation is more active than the preced- 
ing, and is therefore to be used in smaller quantities. 

Tincture of Deuto-ioduret of Mercury. 

Take of deuto-ioduret of mercury, 20 grains. 
Mix. Alcohol at 36°, - 1 § ounce, 

Twenty-six drops of this tincture are nearly equiv- 
alent to one-eighth of a grain of the deuto-ioduret 
itself, it may be given to the extent of 10, 15 or 20 
drops in a glass of distilled water. We are assured 
that it has succeeded in scrofulous complaints com- 
plicated with syphilis. 

Sulphuric JEther with Deuto-ioduret of 
Mercury* 

Take of sulphuric aether 1 $ ounce. 

Mix. Proto or deuto-ioduret of mercury 20 grains. 

This being a more active dose than the preceding v 
must be administered in smaller doses. 



AND ITS PREPARATIONS. 107 

Pills of the Deuto-Iodufct of Mercury. 

Take of Deuto-Ioduret of Mercury I grain. 

Extract of Juniper 12 grains. 

Liquorice Powder q. s. 

Mix and make into 8 pills, two to be taken at first 
morning and evening, augmenting the dose subse- 
quently to four at the same periods. 

Pills of the Proto-Ioduret of Mercury, 

May be made in the same manner, and taken in 
the same dose. 

The combination of mercury and iodine must 
certainly be a medicine of considerable activity, and 
from the effects of each of them on the system in 
giandula affections, we might anticipate the most 
favourable results from the compound in scrofulout 
and venereal diseases. 

Alcoholic Extract of Nux Vomica. 

The nux vomica is one of the most active articles 
ef the materia medica, and has lately been success- 
fully employed in the treatment of paralysis. M. 
Fouquier who has had much experience with its use 
and action, gives it in the form of pills, consisting of 
two grains each. The dose is two pills daily for the 
commencement, and gradually increased to 10 or. 
12, a number rarely exceeded. 

The constant effect of this substance is to produce 
first is* the paralyzed parts, and afterwards in th® 



108 ON IODINE. 

rest of the body, a succession of shocks or contrac- 
tions, similar to those occasioned by galvanism. 

Magendie recommends the pills to be made of 
one grain each, and to commence with one or two 
daily, increasing the dose until the desired effect ia 
produced.. This is the dose I have generally seen 
prescribed by the physicians of this city. A tincture 
may also be employed according to the following, 
formula. 

Juncture of Nux Vomica, 

Take of Alcohol at 36° 1 ounce. 

Dry extract of Nux Vomica 3 grains. 
Dissolve. 

Of this a few drops may be given in any simple 
vehicle. In this form it may also be used by fric- 
tion upon the parts affected, it is a mode much em- 
ployed in Italy, and from which M. Magendie has 
seen great effects result in his own practice. 

Strychnine. 

It would appear to be almost useless labour ex* 
pended to obtain a more concentrated preparation 
than the nux vomica, or the extract. The crude 
substance, however, like all other articles of the 
materia medica, is subject to vary in quality and 
strength, and to be affected by various circumstan- 
ces, to which it may be exposed, thus making the 
strength of the crude material vary ; and conse- 
quently the extract differing in proportion to the 



STRYCHNINE. 100 

acting of the Nux Vomica, and also in (he variable 
modes of its preparation. 

Strychnine as we generally see it is of a greyish 
white, granular or in powder, this is owing to its too 
rapid crystallization, if carefully prepared it is in ihe 
form of minute crystals, which by the aid of the mi- 
criscope are found to consist of four sided prisms ter- 
minated by pryramids with four depressed faces. 
The sign of its parity is not reddening with nitric acid* 
a degree almost unattainable in strychnine procured 
from nux vomica. That obtained from St. Ignatius' 
bean is purer, but the purest and most easily obtain- 
ed is furnished by the Upas, it is al?o obtained from 
the snake root.* The brucine exists with the stry- 
chine in all the above articles, but in less proportion 
in the St. Ignatius: and M» Majendie observes it is un- 
fortunate that the bean of St. Ignatius is so rare an 
article in commerce, as the strychnine contained ia 
it is nearly free from brucine and could be readily 
©Ktained from it in a state of purity. 

Jts action on the system is the same as that of the ex- 
tract of nux vomica, and is applicable in the same case* 
though much more powerful and requiring a lesi 
dose, and it might be entirely unnecessary to have 
recourse to strychnine, if the extract of the nux vomi- 
ca were always prepared in the same manner, and 
exempt from those variations in their effects arising 
from the different-modes in which they are prepared- 
ia consequence of the greater uniformity of the 

* Lignum or Strychnos CoIubrinun& 



110 STRYCHNINE 

strychnine h^this respect, it ts in general preferred. 
In Germany and Italy accounts have been published 
of its successful employment. It is generally employ* 
ed in the form of pills which are made from the fol- 
lowing formula: 

Pills of Strychnine. 

Take of Pure strychnine 2 grains. 

Conserve of roses i drachm. 

Mix accurately and divide into 24 j ills. 

Tincture of Strychnine. 

Take of Alcohol at 36 deg. 1 ounce. 

Strychnine. 3 grains. 

Mix. 

Dose from 6 to 24 drops in draughts or common 
drink. 

The pills were they can be taken are preferable 
to the solution, in consequence of the extreme bit'er. 
ness and unpleasant taste, for although nearly insolu- 
ble in water 6,667 times its weight, at a temperature 
of 10 deg. its bitterness will be distinctly perceptible. 
Jf a solution of strychnine made in cold water, and 
consequently not containing above ^ part of its vo- 
lime, be even still diluted in a hundred times the- 
quantity of the same fluid.* 

The strychine is certainly a valuable remedy in 
-. ^voiy S j S) if we regard the writings of some of the 

•Mojendie's Formulary. 



AND ITS PREPARATIONS, 111 

most distinguished physician?. Dr. Ratier states he 
had occasion to see it administered to a young man 
affected with paralysis in pills, containing each a 
quarter of a grain. In the dose of a grain and a half, 
it occasioned, hut in a more considerable degree, the 
phenomena proper to the mix vomica; viz. a general 
titanic rigidity, with twitching?, which supervened 
every two or three minutes. These effects, which 
had at first alarmed the patient and assistants, termi- 
nated gradually in about three or four hours, and 
without any troublesome consequences. 

Strychnine readily unites with acids, and forms 
fails, which are crystallized and are soluble; this must 
be remembered when giving strychnine in common 
drink, for lemonade and all acids very much increase 
its activity. The following are some of the salts cf 
strychnine, sub-carbonate, sulphate, hydrochlorate, 
phosphate, nitrate, iodatc and hydriodate, it also 
forms salts with the acetic, oxalic, tartaric and hy- 
drocyanic acids, all of which are readily obtained? 
and form crystal Sizable sabs. 

The salts of strychnine in consequence of their 
greater solubility are more active, and consequently 
more intensely poisonous than their base, when the 
patient is habituated to the action of strychnine, It 
may sometimes be advantageous to substitute the 
salts for the strychnine ilsclf without increasing the 
dose. M. Mageadie has used none of the salts ex- 
cept the sulphate which has produced most decided 
relief in a case of paraplegia, given in a dose of a 
iwelfdi of a grain. 



IIS feRUClNE* 

Brucine. 

This exists as before stated in nux vomica, and 
several of the articles containingstrychnine, it is anai- 
agous to strychnine but less intense, being in the pro- 
portion to that of pure strychnine as one to twelve, 
or according to M. Andral,jr. six grains of brucine 
are equal to one of impure, and a quarter of a grain 
of pure strychnine; it is generally given in the form 
of pills or tincture, increasing the dose gradually. In 
medical use, that which is obtained from the bark of 
the brucea antidysinterica should be preferred,* aa 
that furnished by the nux vomica is rather apt to be 
mixed with a portion of strychnine, which increases 
its power and deranges our calculation as to the ef- 
fects. As it possesses the properties of strychnine in 
a milder degree, it may be given to the extent of one, 
<£wo, or even three grains, without apprehension as 
to the consequences in the same cases as the prepa- 
rations of nux vomica are found to benefit. It ia 
probable that much larger doses may be given, but 

• Brucine 13 obtained by subjecting- the inner bark of the 
brucea antidysiterica to a similar process to that directed for 
the preparation of strychnia, with this difference, that tho 
magnesian precipitate must not be so elaborately washed.— 
Brucine being much more soluble in water than strychnine, 
on account of the greater quantity of colouring matter which 
it contains. By evaporating the alcoholic liquors, the brucino 
is readily obtained in a resinous form, not being yet sufficient- 
ly pure to crystalize. In its purification it mus f be combined 
with oxalic acid which is to be again decomposed by magne- 
sia, and the brucine separated by alcohol, which being slowly 
erapnrated in the open air, brucine wilt be obtained in* crys- 
tallized form. 



MORPHIA. 113 

we must be attentively upon our guard. M. Andral 
has given it in cases of palsy with advantage, from 
half a grain to five grains. M. Magendie has used 
it successfully in two cases of atrophy, one of the 
arm and the other of the leg. The patient took six 
pills daily of one-eighth of a grain. As it is subject 
to variation or strength from the frequent admixture 
of strychnine in it, the latler should be preferred as 
being a more active and uniform medicine. 

Pills of Brucine and the Tincture may be made in 
the same manner as those of the strychnine. Brucine 
forms salts in the same manner as the strychnine, and 
being more soluble than brucise itself, is more ac- 
tive, and possesses some advantages. 

Morphia. 

This is the anodyne or sedative principle of opium. 
M, Robiquet prepares it by precipitating a strong 
infusion of opium by means of caustic ammonia, filt- 
ers and evaporates the liquid down to a sixth part of 
its bulk, to this he again adds ammonia and obtams 
a fresh precipitate of pure morphia which he re- 
ceives on a filter and washes it with cold water, when 
well dried he sprinkles it with a little alcohol, and 
passes the spirituous liquors through a filter, which 
carries with it a large portion of the colouring matter 
and also a small quantity of morphine. He then 
disolves the morphine in acetic acid, and treats the 
solution with ivory black. This mixture bei ig agi- 
tated frequently, during twenty -four hours, is 

K 2 



-114 NARCOTINE. 

finally projected on the filter, and pisses through its 
the receiving vessels entirely colourless. He next 
applies ammonia, and the morphia is precipitated in 
the form of a white powder, if this be again dissolved 
in alcohol, and allowed to evaporate spontaneously, 
the morphine will be found in fine regular, white 
crystals, four sided rectangular prisms. Dr. Staples, 
an ingenious chemist of this city, has obtained the 
morphia by a more simple process, his formula -in 
rpub!ished in the North America Medical and Surgi. 
cal Journal of this city.. 

Morphia unites with most of the acids, forming va- 
rious salts of these preparations, the acetate and sul- 
phate have hitherto obtained the preference. Their 
proportion in respect to the opium is an eighth of a. 
grain for a grain. M. Magendie recommends the 
syrup of these salts, four grains of the salt to a pound 
of syrup. The sulphate is preferable to the acetate 
on account of its solubility. Being perfectly soluble 
m cold water; the acetate is also rendered perfect!/ 
soluble in water by adding a few drops of acetic 
acid to it. 

For a further description of morphia and its pre- 
parations, see the article opium, 

Narcotine, 

This preparation is not used as a medicine. For 
particulars, see description of it under the head of 
#pium t in a preceding part of this work, 



"EMETINE. 115 

Emetine. 

This is a peculiar principle lately found in the ipe- 
cacuanha. M. M. Pellctier and Magendie states that 
'this substance being much more active than the Ipe- 
cacuanha itself, without possessing its disagreeable 
taste or nauseous smell, might upon all occasions be 
substituted for it with advantage. Emetine is little 
used in this country, much less than most of the other 
<proximate principles. 

To prepare emetine^ the ipecacuanha is reduced 
to a coarse powder and digested in aether at 60°, to 
dissolve the fatty odorous matters. Then exhaust 
it by alcohol in successive portions. Place the al- 
coholic tinctures in a water bath and re-dissolve the 
residue in cold water, it thus loses a portion of the 
wax and a little of the fatty matter which still re* 
mained,it is only necessary further to macerate it on 
carbonate of magnesia, by which it loses its gallic 
acid, to re-dissolve it in alcohol and to evaporate it t« 
dryness. 

The emetine obtained in this way is not perfectly 
pure, but is the kind altogether in use here, the- ex* 
ceeding high price of the perfectly pure and white 
emetine has excluded it altogether from use here* 
The emetine, obtained in the above process present* 
itself in the form of transparent scales of a reddish 
brown colour, having scarcely any smell, but a bitter 
though not disagreeable taste. 

The action of the pure emetine to that of the ce* 
loured, is as one tofourj particular care should ther^ 



110 EMETINE 

fore be observed in prescribing emetine to distinguish 
which kind you intend, or serious mistakes might oc- 
cur. In prescribing emetine it should be recollected 
that it is little soluble in water, and when we wish 
to give it in an aqueous vehicle, it should previously 
be dissolved in a little acetic or sulphuric acid; eme- 
tine is administered under the form of syrup or pas- 
tiles. M. Magcndie has proposed emetic pastiles as 
4a convenient form for children^ who cannot be made, 
without difficulty, to swallow liquids. 

Take of refined sugar 4 ounces, 

coloured emetine 32 grains. 

From this make pastiles of 1 3 grains, one of which 
suffices for children and three or four for adults. 

Pectoral Pastiles of Emetine* 

Take of Refined Sugar 4 ounces. 

Coloured Emetine 32 grains. 

For pastiles of nine grains,, one is given every hoar; 
if more frequently, nausea will be excited. 

Syrup^qf Emetine. 

Take of Simple Syrup Jfci. 

Coloured Emetine 16 grains* 

Make a Syrup. 

The above syrup may be substituted for the syrup 
of ipecacuanha used in France* 



AND ITS PREPARATIONS. 1 17 

The Pasliles and Syrup of Emetine, 

May be made in the same manner as the above by 
tising one fourth the quantity of pure emetine, that is, 
S grains instead of the 32 grains of coloured emetine. 

For the alcalies of cinchona bark, see the article 
cinchona. 

Quinine and Cinchonine, 

The sulphate of quinine is preferred and in gene- 
ral use, it is prescribed generally in pills of one or 
two grains each, or in the form of mixture with gum 
arabic and cinnamon water, the mixture is objection- 
able on account of the quinine being only partly so- 
luble in water, and is merely suspended for a short 
time by the mucilage of the gurn arabic. The fol- 
lowing I consider a more eligible mode of exhibition 
: as it forms a perfectly transparent and entire solution, 
which will keep unaltered for any length of time. 

Take of Sulphate of Quinine 8 grains. 
Alcohol sji. 

Acid Sulphuric 6 drops. 

Aqua Cinnamon * 1 ounce. 

Reduce the quinine in powder, and add by degrees 
5'ii of water, in which the sulphuric acid is mixed, 
and as soon as dissolved, add the remainder of the 
cinnamon, water, and alcohol. 

Veralrine. 

This very acrid alkalive principle is met in all the 
plants of the family of veratrum, and especially in 
the sahadilla, colchicum and white hellebore; oa ac< 



118 VERATRINE 

«:ount of its strongly purgative properly it can witti I 
-advantage be substituted for these plants. 

To obtain the Veratrine* 

The seeds of the sabadilla are to be treated re- 
peatedly with boiling alcohol These tinctures fil- 
ter while still nearly boiling, which will deposit on 
cooling, whitish flakes of wax; the substance in solu- 
tion reduced to the consistence of extract, is to be ta- 
ken up by cold water and re-filtered. There then re- 
mains upon the filter a small quantity of fatty matter, 
the solution is to be slowly evaporated. A precipi- 
tate is to be formed of an orange yellow colour, which 
exhibits the charactersof that colouring matter which 
is found in almost all woody vegetables; a solution of 
acetate of lead is now poured into this highly colour- 
ed liquid, and there forms immediately a new and 
\csy abundant yellow precipitate, which is separated 
by filtration. The lead is separated by means of sul- 
phuretted hydrogen, the liquor is then filtered and 
concentrated by evaporation, afterwards treated by 
magnesia and again filtered. The magnesia precipi- 
tates is next exposed to boiling alcohol, and the spi- 
rituous fluids being evaporated, yield a pulverulent 
substance extremely acrid and possessing all the al- 
kaline properties, by frequent solutions in alcohol and 
precipitations this substance which is at first yellow- 
ish, will become very white ar.d perfectly inodorous. 

Its taste is very acrid, without any perceptible bit- 
terness, but however small the quantity taken into 
■the mouth, it excites profuse salivations. It is per- 



AND ITS PREPARATIONS. 119 

fectly inodorous, but must not be smelt too closely, 
for even the trilling quantity carried by the air into 
the nasal cavils is often sufficient to produce vio- 
lent and dangerous sneezing, a quarter of a grain con- 
veyed into the intestinal canal readily produces very 
copious dejections and by a quantity trifling beyond 
this, vomiting more or less violent is excited. M. 
Magendie however, has lately given it to the amount 
of two grains in 24 hours, without excessive purging;; 
in the case of an old man who had sutFered an appo- 
plectic attack, which furnishes another proof that the 
state of the nervous system materially influences the 
action of medicines. 

M. Majendie thinks it should take the place of those 
pharmaceutical preparations whose basis is either col- 
chicum or hellebore, they would thereby be rendered 
more powerful therapeutic agents, and at once more 
convenient and certain. By this change the tincture 
sf colchicum, the eau medicinale, and some others, 
ivould lose that uncertain character which gives just 
:ause of dissatisfaction with them. 

M. Magendie has proposed the following formula: 

Pills of Veratrine. 

Take of Veratrine § grain. 

Gum Arabric and Syrup sufficient to make sixpills> 
>ne of which is to be administered, and if no purging 
follows 3 may be given in the course of the day. 

Tincture of Veratrine. 

Take of Veratrine # 4 grains. 

Alcohol 1 ounce. 



120 - TEXtATIUNE 

This tincture may be given in the quantity of fro 
10, 15 to 25 drops, in a cupful of any mild or simpl 
drink. It may be administered internally instead of 
the tincture of colchicum in anasarca and other va- 
rieties of dropsy, and externally in frictions in the 
same diseases, and also in gout. 
$3=In Ratier's formulary one ounce of veratrine if 
directed to be used with four,ounces of alcohol, 
and the dose is directed in the same quantity as th« 
above prepared with four grains. This is certain- 
ly a very great error and might lead to very seri- 
ous accidents.-CO 

Solution of Verafrine. 

Take of Sulphate of Veratrin* 1 grain. 
Distilled Water 2 ounces. 

To be substituted for eau medicinale of Hussoa 

Ointtnent of Veratrine. 

Take of Veratrine 4 grains. 

Axunge 1 ounce. 

In external applications in casei of chronic rheu- 
matism, anasarca and gout. 



fMj 



This very powerful medicine was discovered bj 
Scheele in 1770, although he could only obtain it 
mixed with variable proportion of water. To M. 
Gay Lussac we are indebted for its acquisition in 
the state of purity. 

For the preparation of prussic acid see Coxe's dis- 
pensatory, and most of the chemical works. 

Prussic acid is readily decomposed if left to itself 
in well stopped vessels, it sometimes decomposes in 
less than an hour, and it can rarely be preserved for 
any length of time. This circumstance forms a con- 
siderable objection to its use. It should be kept in 
black bottles, as light is found to decompose it rapid- 
ly; its taste at first is an agreeable freshness, but soon 
becomes acrid and irritating. Its odour is powerful 
and noxious, being insupportable when not mixed 
with a considerable quantity of air, it then resembles 
the smell of bitter almonds. Its action on animals ia 
very powerful one drop of the pure acid introduced 
into the fauces of a remarkable strong dog killed him 
instantly; a few particles applied to the eye will pro. 
duce effects almost equally sudden. The acid which 
we receive is not so strong, and is called medicinal 
prussic acid; prepared no doubt from the formula of 
Scheele, or the acid of Gay Lussac diluted* Prussia 

h 



122 FRUSSIC ACID. 

acid diluted according to the formulas we are about to- 
give, has been successfully employed in all cases of 
morbid irritability of the pulmonary organs, it is also 
advantageously employed in the treatment of nervous 
and chronic coughs, asthma and hooping cough, and 
where this symptom is sympathetic with an affection 
of some other organ, as also in dispepsia. 

The acid prepared by Scheele's process, is very 
variable, in consequence of the arbitrary discretion 
which the process allows the operator. That of Gay 
Lussac is much better adapted for use when properly 
diluted being of more uniform strength. It is to be 
mixed with six times its volume of distilled water. This 
is the preparation which M. Magendie has given the 
name of medicinal prussic acid, and is about the 
strength of the prussic we now receive, so that phy- 
sicians can prepare it according to the following for* 
mular: 

Pectoral Mixture. 

Take of Medicinal Prussic Acid 31. 

Distilled Water ibi. 

Refined Sugar gi£. 
Mix. 

Of this mixture a tablespoonful may be taken night 
and morning. The dose may be gradually increased 
to five or six times this quantity, it is very important 
that the mixture should be well shaken immediately 
before using it, to avoid serious consequences, as the 
acid sometimes floats on the surface of the water. 



CYANURET OF ZINC. 423 

Cyanic Syrup. 

Take of Simple Syrup 1 pound. 

Medical Prussic Acid 3». 
Make a Syrup. 

This preparation is used in common pectoral drinks., 
and as a substitute for other syrups. 

In consequence of the variable strength of the 
prussic acid, and preparations made by different pro- 
cesses being indiscriminately sold; the faculty should 
be cautious in their prescriptions for it, to ascertain if 
possible the strength of it, or to begin with a very 
small dose, which can be gradually augmented until 
he discovers what quantity would be most judicious 
to employ. 

Cyanuret of Pure Potassium. 

M. M. Robiquet and Villermer have proposed the 
solution of the cyanuret of potassium as a substitute 
for the prussic acid, its action on the animal system 
being the same; which being an uniform preparation, 
will obviate the inconvenience of the variable strength 
of the prussic acid. This preparation has not yet been 
used in this country. 

Cyanuret of Zinc. 

This preparation of late has been employed in 
Germany instead of the hydrocyanic acid, and has 
obtained the reputation of possessing decided vermi- 
fuge powers. The following is the mode of prepar- 



124 CJYANURET OF IODINE. 

ing a composition which is apparently the one in 
vogue in Germany. 

M. Pelletier has succeeded in obtaining this pre- 
paration by the following process: Sulphate of zinc 
is precipitated by hydrocyanate of potass; which 
forms a triple hydrocyanate of zinc, which being well 
dried and calcined at a dull red heat, is converted 
into cyanuret of zinc. It always contains however, 
cyanuret of potassium. 

This preparation may be given in the same doses 
us cyanuret of potass, beginning with one fourth of 
a grain, and advancing gradually to a grain and a 
half in a mixture to be taken by spoonful. But cau- 
tion should be particularly observed in its administra- 
tion. 

Dv. Henning reports (in Hufleand's Journal for 
1823) that this medicine has been successfully em- 
ployed in all cases where prussic acid is applicable, 
more especially among children in cases of worms. 
He there gave one grain with powder of jalap. 

Cyanuret of Iodine. 

This preparation has not yet been used in medi- 
cine, nor its effects on the animal system yet ascer- 
tained. M. Serullas i<s of the opinion from its compo- 
sition, that it ought to produce powerful effects on 
the animal economy, and that probably as a medicine 
occasion may be found for its employment. Itdoesnot 
however appear to be so deleterious as the nature of 
its elements would lead us to suppose. M. Serullas 
lasted it, and several persons in his laboratory. M. 



SOLANINE. 125 

Thenard had furnished M. Magendie with a sufficient 
quantity of this substance but was not able to report 
yet upon its mode of action. 

Solanine. 

This alkaline principle exists in the leaves of the 
solanum dulcamara, and is also found in the greatest 
abundance in the berries of the solarium nigrum, 
where it exists in the state of malate. In order to 
obtain it the juice of these berries when filtered, is to 
be treated with ammonia, which produces a grey co- 
loured precipitate, this deposite collected on a filter, 
washed and treated with boiling alcohol, yields by 
evaporation a salafiabie base, which if the berries 
have been perfectly ripe is in effect sufficiently pure. 
If the berries were green the solanine will contain a 
portion of green colouring matter, which is with dif- 
ficulty separated. Introduced into the stomach of a 
cat to the amount of two to four grains, it produces 
violent vomiting, followed quickly by a state of drow- 
siness which lasts several hours. The acetate is the 
only salt of solanine which has been tried upon the 
human species. In the dose of a quarter of a grain 
it produces nausea but the tendency to sleep has not 
been remarked. 

From what has been reported of it, it appears that 

solanine like opium may produce vomiting and sleeps 

but its emetic powers seem to be more decided than 

those of opium, the narcotic properties are evidently 

muchlessso. Ithasnotyetbeengivenin cases ofdisease, 

but it may be employed wherever the extract of sola* 

flum nigrum or that of dulcamara may be indicated. 

L 2 



126 DELPHINE, UREA, &<% 

Delpkine* 

This alkali was detected in 1819 in the seeds of 
the delphinum staphjsagria. It has not jet been em- 
ployed as a medicine, but if the siavesacre possesses 
any medical power it no doubt resides in this alkali, it 
may therefore be employed where this plant is appli- 
cable to diseases, and the salts, of which it forms the 
base, will there be preferable on account of their so- 
lubility. 

Urea* * 

Is the immediate principle of the urine of mammi- 
ferious animals, it is obtained by. evaporating thu 
urine to the consistence of syrup, forming a superni- 
trate of urea by nitric acid, and decomposing again 
by sub. carb. potass, by which the urea is obtained 
in crystals. 

M. Fou'quier has employed the urea as a diuretic, 
though to M. Bailey it does not appear to possess that 
property, the dose is from 50 to 60 grains. It does 
not appear to be a medicine likely to prove very im- 
portant. 

Thrydace or Lactucariurrt. 

M. Bidault de Villers had for a long time employed 
the inspissated juice of the garden lettuce, and M. 
Francois has proposed to renew its use under the 
same of thridace. He ascribes to this substance a 
sedative action milder than that of opium, inasmuch 
m it is accompanied neither with constipation nor 



GOLD, PLATINA AND LUPULINE. 12? 

"Stupor. The dose is two grains. It is necessary says 
M. Francois, to increase rapidly the doses and for one 
or two days to interrupt its exhibition, as the sto- 
mach very soon accustoms itself to its action. It may- 
be carried to the extent of eight grains taken in 
3 doses during the 24 hours without any inconveni* 
cnce. 

Preparations of Gold and Platina. 

The preparations of gold have been highly extolled 
in inveterate syphilitic affections. With M. Culle- 
rier who has given them a persevering trial, they 
have not succeeded. They are difficult to manage, 
as much on account of their great activity, as on ac- 
count of the facility with which they are decomposed. 
The dose ought to be extremely small, not exceeding 
the fifteenth or twentieth of a grain. The same ob- 
servations may be applied to the salts of platina. 

Four preparations of gold are now employed in mt- 
dicine. 

1st. The chlouret or muriate of gold. 

8. The chlouret or muriate of gold and soda.. 

3. The oxide of gold. 

4. The oxide of gold by tin or purple powder of 
■cassius. 

The muriate of gold is that most generally employ- 
ed in medicine and is preferable to the other prepay 
'rations. 

laipuline. 

h the actire'principle of the hop, (Humulus Lupo- 



128 LUPULINE. 

*lus) it is in the form of small shiningyellowish grains, 
which cover the base of the strobiles of the hop, it is 
of a golden yellow colour, of an aromatic odour and 
pulverulent. Upon analysis it is found to consist es- 
sentially of rosin, a little volatile oil, and a bitter prin- 
cle; its taste is extremely bitter. Magendie states it 
is soluble in water, alcohol and aether. I have only 
found it partly so in aether, and that alcohol was the 
best menstrua. M. Magendie has not recognized in 
lupuline, the narcotic properties advanced by Profes- 
sor Ives, of New York; although this is one of the 
properties he observes most readily manifested in his 
experiments with it on animals. 

It may be administered in the form of powder, pills, 
tincture, or syrup. It can be readily reduced to pow- 
der, by mixing it with two parts of sugar and tritura- 
ty, then gradually pound them together in a mortar. 

Pills of Lupuline. 

May be made of two grains each, it may be beaten 
into a pillular mass without any adjuvant. 

Tincture of Lupuline. 

Take of Powdered Lupuline 1 ounce. 
Alcohol at 36° 4 ounces. 

Digest it tor six days in a close vessel, strain, press 
it strongly and filter: Magendie directs it made with 
two ounces of alcohol, and when pressed, sufficient 
alcohol is added to make up three ounces of tincture; 
this is certainly objectionable, for the quantity of al- 



OIL OF CROTON. 129 

cohol which is added to the tincture, would certainv 
\y be preferable to add while digesting, as the two 
ounces of alcohol does not exhaust the lupuline, and 
barely covers it, four ounces is quite small enough; 
and I even think that six or eight ounces of alcohol 
would be preferable, and would then be considerably 
stronger than the tincture of hops. 

Syrup of Lupuline. 

This is made by adding the tincture of lupuline to 
■simp'e syrup. The doses of these preparations are 
not yet accurately fixed, but as the lupuline pos- 
sesses no poisonous quality, the dose may easily be de- 
termined by the practitioner. 

Lupuline has generally beenprescribed, in this city, 
in doses of two orthreegrains; and I have been inform- 
ed by several of the faculty, that it possessed ano- 
dyne properties, and was a highly valuable substitute 
for the hop. 

Oil of Croton. 

This is a very powerful purgative oil, it possesses a 
strong peculiar smell and a very acrid and spicy 
taste, it is extracted from the seeds of the croton tig- 
Hum, a shrub of the family euphorbia, which grows 
in the East Indies. It was introduced in 1630, and 
was employed by several physicians with complete 
success in dropsy, constipation, &c. one drop in Ca- 
nary wine was at that time a common purgative. 
The medicine however had entirely fallen into ne- 
glect in Europe, when Mr. E. Con well, in the En- 



130 OIL OF CROTON. 

fiish East India Company's service at Madras, re- 
called attention to it. It is generally employed in 
India, and has been lately introduced into England. 

It is obtained from the seeds by expression and 
boiling, similar to obtaining the castor oil. Dr. Nim- 
mo of Glasgow has obtained the oil by digesting the 
bruised kernels in sulphuric aether, by this process he 
obtained from 300 grains of the seed two drachms of 
the oil; which had the taste and medicinal properties 
of the common oil of croton. 

The croton seeds will yield about fifty per cent, of 
oil. 

The oil of croton may be employed as an ordina- 
ry purgative, when there does not exist any symp- 
toms of irritation about the stomach or intestinal ca- 
nal; it should especially be preferred when common 
purgatives have been administered without success 
in apoplexies, in dropsies, and when mechanical or 
other obstacles oppose the action of usual purgatives, 
but above all when it is requisite to produce action 
on the bowels speedily. 

It is recommended by Dr. Ainslie of Madras, to 
be externally used in cases of rheumatic affections. 

A number of cases of obstinate constipation is ci- 
ted by Dr. Kinglake as having been cured by a single 
drop of this oil given in the form of a pill. 

In this manner he cured a patient labouring under 
colica pictonem (see Bulletin des Sciences Medicales 
Fevrier, 1824, page 145.) 






OIL OF CROTON. 131 

Soap of the Oil of Croton* 

M. Caventon, to obviate the inconveniences aris- 
ing from the variation in the size of drops, has pre- 
pared a soap according to the following method. Two 
parts of the oil, and one part of the liquid caustic so- 
da of the French pharmacopea, are to be triturated 
together without heat. When it has acquired con- 
sistence, it is poured into a paper mould, and cut in 
slices to be kept in a large mouth stoppered bottle. 

This soap has been given by M. Bailey, in doses 
of from two to three grains, in pills or solution, and 
the effect has been the same as oil of croton. 

The oil of croton may be advantageously used as 
an adjunct to other cathartic medicines, which 
would increase the activity and not enlarge the bulk. 

Professor Coxe, suggests that a similar acrid and 
powerful oil exists in the skins of the castor oil bean, 
and suggests the importance of experimenting upon 
them ; the seeds when taken into the stomach, most 
certainly in small quantities excites very considerable 
and increased action, more than equal to the quan- 
tity of oil which would result from ten times the 
quantity of seeds, it therefore must be evident that 
there is still a very active principle left in the resi- 
dium of the beans after the oil has been expressed ; 
and hence it is, that the hot pressed oil is more ac- 
tive than the cold pressed, which, no doubt, arises 
from pressing the seeds more closely, and the heat 
separating a portion of this acrid oil, from the skins. 
There can be no doubt bat that the opinion of Pro- 



132 OIL OF EUPHORBIA. 

fessor Coxe would be verified by experiments upon? 
this article. 

Oil of Euphorbia Lathyris. 

Dr. Carlo Calderino obtained an oil from the seed* 
of the euphorbia lathyrus, or spurge, which may be 
used with advantage for the oil of croton tiglium, 
and which, like it, acts in a very small dose. 

The oil is obtained by simple process of expres- 
sion, 14 ounces of seeds will yield six ounces of very 
prime oil. 

My friend, Dr. Milnor, of Allentown, New Jer- 
ley about a year since, sent me some of the seeds of 
the euphorbia, which grew in the neighbourhood, 
very abundantly. I have expressed the seeds, and 
obtained the oil similar to that imported; since which 
Mr. Thomas Bellanger, of New Jersey, has sowed 
an acre of this plant, and manufactured considerable 
of the oil. The euphorbia grows abundantly in this 
country and will no doubt be extensively cultivated 
should full experience with the article justify its 
value as a medicine. 

The oil differs from croton in not being acrid, nor 
possessing an unpleasant flavour; it very much 
resembles the castor oil; it has the same colour, but 
not quite so dense, and does not possess any odour. 
It forms like croton oil soap with alkalies. The ac* 
tion of the oil of euphorbia is purgative, and its ef- 
fects is very certain and prompt, it is to be con- 
sidered, says the Italian author, as a very mild pur- 
gative; it does not produce vomiting, colic, or 



GENTIANINE. 133 

tenesmus; it may be administered even in dysen- 
taries, when there is irritation in the intestinal eanal. 
It may be employed in all cases where it is desirable 
to purge gently, and with a small dose of medicine. 
The dose of the oil of spurge is from 4 to 8 drops — 
children of two or three years, may take a dose of 3 
drops in chocolate. To very irritable subjects an 
emulsion may be given, made with eight drops of the 
oil, some aromatic water, and syrup of orange peal ; 
this has in several cases produced very good effects. 

Gentianine. 

This is the active principle of the gentian root of 
commerce. It is little soluble in cold water, but 
dissolves in boiling water ; it is yellow, inodorous, 
possessing very strongly the aromatic bitter taste of 
the gentian. All which I have seen imported is of 
a dark brown colour, and is no doubt very impure, 
resembling more a common extract than any other 
of the alkaline or proximate principles. 

The gentianine is obtained by digesting the pow- 
der of gentian in cold aether, which furnishes a green 
tincture ; this being filtered and poured into an open 
vessel, if sufficiently concentrated, will deposit a 
yellow crystaline mass ; this mass is to be treated 
with alcohol, which filtered and exposed to a strong 
heat, the yellow crystaline substance begins to ap- 
pear, assuming at the close of the evaporating pro- 
cess a solid mass, extremely bitter ; taken up again 
by alcohol it is partially dissolved. This last spirit- 
uous solution, besides the bitter principle of tht 

M 



134 GENTIANINE. 

gentian, contains an acid substance and the odorous- 
principle also. Upon evaporating this liquid to 
dryness, washing the residuum in water, adding a little 
calcined and well washed magnesia, boiling and 
evaporating in a water bath, the greater part of the 
odorous matter of the Gentian is driven off, the 
acidity is removed by the magnesia, and the bitter 
principle remains partly free and partly in a state 
of combination with magnesia, to which it imparts a 
beautiful yellow colour. Then upon boiling this 
magnesia with aether, the greater part of the bitter 
principle is obtained pure and is insulated by evapo- 
ration. The tincture is the most preferable form for 
its administration, and it may be made in the follow- 
ing manner. 

Take of alcohol at 24* 1 ounce. 

Gentianine 5 grains. 

This maybe substituted for the tincture of gentian, 
and used in the same circumstances. 

Syrup of Gentianine. 

Take of simple syrup Ifci. 

Gentianine 16 grains. 

Make a syrup. 

This is one of the best bitters that can be cm- 
ployed in scrofulous affections. 



CHLORURETS OF LIME AMD SODA, 135 

Chlorurets of IAme and Soda. 

The advantages of these substances were made 
■known in 1812, by M. Mazuyer, professor to the fa- 
culty of medicine at Strasburg. At that time he em- 
ployed them with great success, in the wards of hos- 
pitals in which typus fevers was then raging, and for 
the purification of the theatres of anatomy. M. La- 
barraque has demonstrated by a great number of ex- 
periments, that the chloruret of soda was one of the 
most powerful agents for the initantaneous annihilia- 
tion of that disgusting fetor, which is produced by the 
maceration of intestines in water. The same gen- 
tleman extended the use of the chlorurets to the pu- 
rification of all animal substances under putrefaction, 
and many distinguished physicians have used them 
as medical agents. A prize of three thousand francs 
to M. Labarraque, and two thousand to M. Mazuyer, 
was decreed by the Academy of Sciences, for this 
useful discovery. 

The method for preparing the chlorurets, although 
known for a long time, it will nevertheless be useful 
to describe the manner in which M. Labarraque pre- 
pares them in order to obtain always the same com- 
pound: 

The Chloruret of Soda 

Is prepared by dissolving five pounds of pure car- 
bonate of soda* in 20 pounds of distilled water. Put 

* Soda Sub. Carbonas. 



136 CHLORURETS OF 

the liquor into a flask of sufficient size, that it may be 
about three fourths full. Expose a glass balloon suf- 
ficiently large to contain four pints, having a long 
neck with a wide mouth, introduce into it 56 7 grammes 
of hydrochlorate of soda, and 448 of the per- 
oxide of magnesia; lute to the mouth of the globe 
a large curved tube, and a tube with a double curve 
for the introduction of the weak acid ; place the 
first tube into a flask containing a small quantity of 
water for the purpose of washing the gas ; and from 
this flask should proceed a large curved tube, com- 
municating with the vessel containing the saline so- 
lution. 

The apparatus being properly disposed, and the 
luting very dry, pour into the bent tube the diluted 
acid cold, and having been mixed for some houra 
with water, apply fire to the sand bath and continue 
the heat until chlorine ceases to be disengaged. 
The operation being finished, examine the strength 
of the product, by its action in decomposing the 
sulphate of indigo. 

The chloruret of soda has chiefly been employed 
in medicine, and has produced highly satisfactory 
results, and has succeeded in all cases in which it 
has been used for the removal of general or local 
infections. Thus in carbuncle, in hospital gangrene, 
bad venereal ulcers, sloughing wounds, or those 
of the phagedenic kind, rapid advancement has 
been observed towards cicatrization, by the employ- 
ment of the chloruret diluted in 10 or 15 parts of 
water. In numerous patients affected with ulcera* 



LIME AND SODA. 137 

'ted cancer of the breast, or of the uterus, which 
were in the hospital, it has been used daily at a 
lotion at the time of dressing; by this means the 
•fetor of the discharge has been destroyed, and the 
sufferings of these unfortunate women have been 
much meliorated ; and they have found from the 
use of these lotions, their sleep has been more tran- 
quil. M. Alibert has prescribed similar lotions with 
advantage for herpes exedens. M. M. Roche and I. 
Cloquet have found it equally useful in the worst 
cases of gangrenous ulcers. M. T. Cloquet directs 
the diseased limb to be bathed in a solution of one 
part of the chloruret, with from 10 to 15 of water, 
and administer 25 or 30 drops of it in a pint of 
barley water. It has been used as a gargle in sore 
throat, as a lotion in ulcerated gums, exhaling an 
offensive odour. M. Lisfranc has used it extensively 
in burns and common ulcerations; for this purpose 
a solution of the chloruret, marking three degrees of 
the chlorometer of Gay LussaCc 

The chloruret of Time is prepared by placing the 
hydrate of lime on shelves of a convenient distance 
from each other. The gas is disengaged from a 
similar mixture to that employed for the chloruret 
of sodoa, and passed into a chamber containing the 
lime, which must be occasionally stirred, so that the 
chlorine may act equally on all parts of it; the hy- 
drate of lime sufficiently charged with chlorine, 
becomes moist, by which it is ascertained that the 
^operation is about to terminate. 

M 2 



138 CHLOHURET OF LIME. 

This is a very powerful disinfecting agent, and 
can be used in the following manner. Previous to 
examining an animal body in a putrifying state, it 
will be only necessary to procure a bucket, and mix 
the chlorate of lime with water. Let a sheet be 
completely moistened with this solution, and wrapt 
about the whole subject, so that every part of it may 
be covered. The putrid odour will soon cease. If 
there be an unpleasant smell in passages, stair cases, 
&c. let them be sprinkled with the liquid. Care 
should be taken to sprinkle the cloth which covers 
the body frequently with this liquid, by which means 
the offensive odour will be prevented. The chloru- 
ret of lime may be used with advantage for the dis- 
infection of privies, water closets, ships, stables, hos- 
pitals, wards, &c. for which purpose it will be suf- 
ficient to dilute the chloruret in 60 times its weight 
of water, and to sprinkle the clear solution over the 
surface of the objects or places which are intended 
to be purified ; a broom or watering pot may be 
used for the purpose, and a few minutes will be suffi- 
cient to complete the disinfection. 

In wards with patients the solution is to be poured 
into deep plates, and placed under the beds. The 
infectious odour cannot spread, because it is des- 
troyed in proportion to its formation, in consequence 
Of the continual disengagement of chlorine. 

Several physicians and surgeons of the hospital 
have made a useful application of these substances 
in the treatment of burns, chronic inflammation of 



DIGESTIVE LOZENGES. 139 

the mucous membrane, &c. M. Lisfranc has used 
the following preparation successfully in burns: 

Chloride of calcium (marking 3 degrees 
of the the chlorometre of Gay Lussac) 3 4 

Water fb i. 

This solution has also been used as an injection 
in the case of chronic catarrh of the vagina or blad- 
der, and has been equally employed in the treatment 
of gangrene. Besides its utility as a disinfecting 
agent, it appears also to exert a beneficial influence 
on the progress of cicatrization. 

Lozenges of Bicarbonate of Soda % or 
Digestive Lozenges. 

These lozenges have proved highly beneficial in 
the treatment of dispepsia, and have been found use- 
ful in promoting digestion by saturating the free 
acid of the stomach which is essential to the com- 
plete solution of the aliment. 

Formula for preparing the digestive lozenges of 
M. D'Arcet: 

Take of dry pure bicarbonate of soda 5 grammes. 
Fine white sugar in powder 95 do. 
Mucilage of gum tragacanth 

prepared with water q. s. 

Essential oil of mint 2 or 3 drops* 

Let the bi-carbonate of soda and refined sugar, 
each reduced separately to a fine powder, be pat 
into a very dry bottle. Shake the bottle well that the 
powder may be thoroughly mixed. Take any quan- 
tity of this powder, let it be well mixed on a marble 



140 DIGITALINE. 

slab, with a sufficieat quantity of mucilage of gum 
tragacanth, and oil of mint; form the mass into lozen- 
ges, weighing about one drachm, dry them in the 
air or on a stove. As these lozenges attract slightly 
the moisture of the atmosphere, they ought to be 
kept in well stopped bottles, or in a dry place. 
They may be flavoured with any other essential 
oil, or with the balsam of tolu, which is very suitable 
for that purpose. 

Much benefit has been obtained from the use of 
these lozenges, taken immediately when the func- 
tions of the stomach are found to be in a deranged 
itate; if taken before a meal, the digestive functions 
will be performed with more facility. These lo- 
zenges being very useful to assist digestion, ought to 
be prescribed before and after a meal to patients 
affected with gout or calculi. 

Digitaline* 

M. Augusti Leroyer has obtained the active prin- 
ciple of digitalis, which he has obtained in well de- 
fined crytals of various forms. M. Leroyer has 
made the following experiments with it : he dis- 
solved a grain of digitaline in three gros of distilled 
water, which he injected into the abdomen of a 
middle sized rabbit ; after some minutes the respi- 
ration became slower, the pulse wheh was rapid 
fell to 60, and became very irregular ; all the vital 
phenomena became gradually extinct; it died with- 
-out agitation and without distress, like falling asleep. 
A grain and a half of -digitaline was dissolved in half 



PHOSPHORUS. 141 

an ounce of water, and was injected into the jugular 
vein of a middle sized dog ; he died in 15 minutes. 
The arterial blood of the animals which have been 
killed by this substance, present a very strong venous 
colour, «fec. &c. It appears that the deleterious 
principle in solution in the blood, acts directly upon 
the nervous system. 

This subtance has not yet been employed as a 
medicine, and nothing therefore can yet be said of 
its action on the human system. 

Phosphorus. 

This substance has been little used in medicine. 
It has lately been much extolled by Dr. Lobstein; 
the diseases in which it has been given with great 
success, according to the author, are extreme prostra* 
tien of strength, obstinate intermittent fevers, rheu- 
matic and gouty affections, &c. &c. 

Bertrand Pelletier, who has made very extensive 
and useful researches respecting phosphorus, has 
pointed out a very excellent method of preparing 
this substance for medical purposes. This process 
consists of putting sixgrains of phosphorus, cut into 
small pieces, in an ounce of sulphuric ffither; this 
mixture must be occasionally agitated, for 3 or 4 
days. The dose of this medicine is from 10 to 15 
drops in a glassful of barley water, or any conve- 
nient vehicle, and repeated, so that from 120 to 150 
drops may be taken in the space of 3 or 4 days. 
This liquid may be used in frictions also when such 
are deemed necessary. M. J. Pelletier objects to 



142 



•SALACINE. 



these preparations in which the phosphorus is dis- 
solved in a volatile fluid, only such as aether and 
essential oil, because exposed to the air and heat 
of the body driving ofFthe menstruum the phosphorus 
remaining perse, may influence by heat and Friction, 
but with fat or fixed oil this inconvenience will not 
take place, because the substances not being volatile, 
cannot leave the phosphorus. 

Salacine* 

This new and valuable article of the materia med- 
ica, is the alkaline principle of the willow bark, and 
has acquired considerable reputation in Europe as a 
substitute for quinine. The following is the pro- 
cess for preparingit, as recommended by M. Feschier. 
The bark of the willow is to be dried, .crushed. boiled 
for one or two hours in water, and the liquid sepa- 
rated by a cloth, and powerful pressure. Sub. 
acetate of lead is to be added as long as precipitation 
occurs ; the whole filtered ; the clear liquor boiled 
with carbonate of lime sufficient to decompose the 
excess of acetate of lead ; saturate the acetic acid, 
and remove the colour. Being left to settle, the 
clear liquor is to be decanted, the deposit is to be 
washed twice or thrice, the washing liquor added to 
the former, and the whole evaporated to the con- 
sistence of an extract. This extract, while hot, is 
to be put on bibulous paper and pressed for some 
hours; after which, it is to be digested in alcohol of 
s. g. 0.847, the fluid filtered and concentrated, 
when it will yield cjystalised salacine 3 verj white 



SALACINE* 143 

and pure. Salacine when thus prepared, and ad- 
ministered in doses of 3 to 5 grains, repeated at in- 
tervals of one hour during the apyrexia of intermit- 
tent fevers, is said to be found effectual in arresting 
their progess with more certainty than the sulphate 
of quinine. Salacine (according to M. M. Pelouze 
and Jules Gay Lussac) when pure, forms white 
crystaline prismatic needles. It has a bitter taste 
and somewhat the odour of willow bark. One 
hundred parts of water dissolve 5. 6 parts of sala- 
cine at 67° F. at 212° F. it appears to dissolve in 
any proportion. It is equally soluble in alcohol, 
but asther and oil of turpentine takes up no portion 
of it. 

This article has lately been introduced here, and 
as far as it has been yet used, has given the most en- 
tire satisfaction. Dr. Miller of Lancaster informs me 
he has successfully treated several cases of intermit- 
tents, in which quinine appeared to have no effect, 
and which readily yielded under the use of the sala- 
cine; and from the experiments which he has made 
with it, is fully of the opinion that it is a very valua- 
| ble medicine, and more efficient than the quinine. 



SMILAX 



* »> 8S8tii»' 



This highly valuable article of our materia medica, 
has been variously represented. The greater part of 
our most respectable physicians however concur in 
the opinion that it is a medicine of very useful pow- 
ers in venereal scrofulous, and mercurial diseases. 
When combined with mezerion, guaiacum, sassafras, 
dulcamara, &c. &c. becomes one of the most efficient 
compounds for depurating the blood and removing 
most constitutional diseases arising from this cause. 

This preparation has been much recommended in 
scrofulous and rheumatic affections, and in some of 
the chronic diseases of the skin. Quarin regarded 
the compound decoction of sarsaparilla, as the most 
useful remedy we possess in gout: Sydenum also con- 
fidered it useful in this affection, and^Scudemore 
cays it sometimes proves beneficial during the state 
of convalescence. The mezerion, one of the ingre- 
dients of the compound sarsaparilla, is recommen- 
ded in venereal and mercurial diseases, and in chro- 
nic cutaneous eruptions. Dr. Cullen states that he 
found it successful in diseases of this kind. Lauris 
sassafras, another of the constituents of the compound 



SARSAPARILLA. 145 

sarsaparilla, has also been recommended by some of 
the best authors. Alibert speaks very favourable of 
its virtues in rheumatic affections, he administered it 
frequently at the hospital St. Louis, and it always 
appeared t# him, he observes, to exert a manifest 
action on the cutaneous emunctories. He mentions 
a case of chronic rheumatism which yielded to the 
infusion of sassafras, after a great variety of other re- 
medies had been tried ineffectually. He also speak* 
of two cases of gout, in which the sassafras was employ- 
ed with complete success. Professor Eberle also 
states that he has known the continued use of an in- 
fusion effectually to cure a case of inveterate rheu- 
matism, he further states that it has generally been 
employed in the form of infusion, but the oil is the 
most efficient, and therefore the best preparation. 
Guaiacum another of the ingredients of compound 
sarsaparilla, stands high in the estimation of almost 
every physician. In the treatment of rheumatism, 
says a distinguished author, it has long been consi- 
dered as peculiarly serviceable, and is unquestionably 
a remedy of very considerable value in this disease. 
It has also been prescribed, continues the author, in 
affections arising from the influence of mercury, and 
in such cases I have had several striking examples of 
its usefulness. Mr. Pearson says, I have given the 
decoction of guaiacum with the best effects, to a great 
number of patients, in cutaneous diseases, in ozasna 
and scrofulous affections of the membranes and liga- 
ments. 

From what has been said from the most respects 

N 



146 SARSAPARILLA. 

ble sources of authority, in support of the different 
articles constituting the compound sarsaparilia, it 
would appear most unquestionably to be a medicine, 
when combined and properly prepared, possessing 
the most valuable properties, and deserving the par- 
ticular attention of the faculty. 

The preparations of sarsaparilia has most general- 
ly been improperly made, and there can be no doubt, 
but the variable opinions which have been entertain- 
ed of its properties by different physicians and writers t 
have arisen entirely from the various modes of its 
preparation. The compound decoction of sarsapa- 
rilia, requires considerable boiling to take up its ac- 
tive and soluble matter, this I do not say from specu- 
lation, as many have done, but from actual experi- 
ments repeatedly made for the purpose, expressly for 
ascertaining and establishing the fact, and I have 
found, that after several days boiling, these ingredi- 
ents, (and particularly the sarsaparilia,) contained a 
very considerable proportion of extractive matter 
quite as active as that obtained by the first boiling. 
It has been foolishly suggested that decoction injures 
its active properties, and that it should be only ma- 
cerated and not boiled, this would merely wash off 
the dirt which adheres to the roots, together with 
some of the decayed corticle fibre which is more or 
less found among the freshest roots which we receive, 
this may give a little colour to the decoction, and 
may be mistaken for its active principle. After under- 
going this operation the root would be in good con- 
dition to begin the deeoction. I have experimented 



SARSAPARILLA. 147 

with various menstruum upon the roots of sarsapa- 
rilla, and find that water is the best, producing 
a more active preparation of the root than any 
other, and in a larger quantity. Alcohol is the next 
most active menstruum, but it is altogether objection- 
able from the increased expense incurred in its pro 
paration, producing an extract possessing no advan- 
tage whatever ©ver that of the water. 

Numerous preparations of sarsaparilla and various 
modes of preparing them have been given, all of 
which of course will differ according to the mode of 
preparation which each individual may adopt. It is 
therefore an object of the highest consideration and. 
importance, that we should have a standard prepara- 
tion of uniform strength, and possessing the most 
advantages ; also, the trouble and difficulty which 
patients are subjected to in making the decoction 
and syrup, has rendered it a still further object of 
importance to procure* a preparation of it in a more 
convenient form, than those usually prescribed. Sar- 
saparilla, as before stated, requires considerable boil- 
ing, to take up the extractive matter, and it has 
consequently, most frequently been improperly made, 
by those unacquainted with pharmaceutical pre- 
parations. To obviate these difficulties, I have 
made a number of experiments to ascertain the 
most effectual means of extracting the virtues of 
the compound sarsaparilla, and to discover the most 
eligible form of preparing it for exhibition, which 
has resulted to my most entire satisfaction, and it is 
with much pleasure I now offer to the faculty my 



148 SARSAPARILLA. 

compound fluid extract of sarsaparilla, which posses* 
les all the virtues of this medicine in a highly con- 
centrated degree. It possesses numerous advantages 
over sarsaparilla, its syrup, decoction, and solid ex- 
tract, and is intended as a preparation of much easier 
portability — not liable to injury by long keeping, and 
consequently better adapted to the use of persons 
travelling or residing abroad. 

The fluid extract of sarsaparilla is a more conve- 
nient article than the solid, the latter requiring some 
trouble and difficulty to dissolve it, while the former 
is immediately dissolved when it is put into water, 
ind is consequently immediately fit for use. 

As the decoction will rarely keep more than 
twenty-four hours, particularly in warm weather, it 
would be exceedingly troublesome for the patient, 
put under a course of sarsaparilla, which has to be 
taken for some time, to be obliged to prepare the 
decoction every day, besides getting a very weak 
and inferior preparation from the short time he would 
have to boil it, not taking up perhaps one fourth of 
its active principle. 

The syrup, which is the common preparation 
generally used, has still further objections; it being 
the decoction prepared in the common way, over- 
loaded with sugar, which is exceedingly objectiona- 
ble, as it will be necessary for the patient to surfeit, 
and not unfrequently nauseate his stomach with a 
large portion of saccharine matter in taking a dose of 
the decoction, which is generally weak, so that not 
unfrequently it might be said with propriety that he 



SARSAPARILLA, 149 

is taking a dose of sugar rather than sarsaparilla, as 
the former exists in a larger proportion in the prepa- 
ration. We frequently hear of concentrated syrups of 
sarsaparilla, which is simply change of name for the 
same article, as it is impossible when a fluid is satu- 
rated with sugar, to take up an extra portion of any 
substance ; and if the decoction is much concen- 
trated, a portion of the fluid extract which it holds, 
would be precipitated by the sugar. 1 will not in this 
place call in question the essays of one of my fellow 
competitors to support or refute the value of the extract 
of sarsaparilla, but might quote numerous authors, 
whose opinions would have weight and influence , and 
whose experience and observations would entirely 
sink and outweigh those little acquainted with the 
subject, who from want of experience aided hy pre- 
judice, have fallen into the greatest absurdities. 
■1 will simply select one on the present occasion, 
which is published in the Medico-Chirurgical Re- 
view, for July 1830, Vol. 18, No. 41, page 162 — 
"Observations on the Extract of Sarsaparilla in vene- 
real affections, &c. by Benjamin Traver's F. R. S. &c. 
^&c. v Speaking of the compound of syphilis and mer- 
cury, he states that no remedy, next to the adjusi> 
^ment of diet, is equal to the extract of sarsaparilla. 
The extract dissolved in water or milk, is the men- 
struum which I rely most upon in these cases, its pow- 
er is extraordinary, more so than any other drug 
which I am acquainted with. To regard it as inert, 
.as a mere diluent or an offensive nutrient, is either 
•a proof of very limited experience or very prejudiced 

N 2 



150 SARSAPARILLA* 

observation. It is in the strictest sense a tonic, with 
this invaluable attribute, that it is applicable to a 
state of the system so sunken, and yet so irritable as 
renders other substances of the tonic class unavaila- 
ble or injurious. 

We take the liberty of marking in italics, says the 
distinguished editor, Dr. Johnson, the passage respect- 
ing sarsaparilla, because we most cordially concur 
with Mr. Travers in the statement, which it con- 
tains in favour of the valuable properties of the ex- 
tract of sarsaparilla. 

The compound fluid extract of sarsaparilla, which 
I have prepared has decidedly proved one of the 
most popular medicines ever introduced in Philadel-- 
phia. There has been a little clamour against it by 
some of my worthy competitors in trade, (this must 
be expected in all valuable and extensively used ar- 
ticles, it was so with quinine, and some of our most 
inestimable medicines,) but it all sinks into insignifi- 
cance when compared with its general approbation 
by the faculty, and its extensive use by some of our 
most distinguished physicians. It has already been 
sent to almost every populated section of the United 
States, and whether in town or country, hospital or 
private practice, it has invariably given to patient 
and practitioner, the most decided and unequivocal 
satisfaction, and produced the most salutary and be- 
neficial effects. Numerous letters have been receiv- 
ed from some of the most distinguished physicians in 
the country, and from the professors of several me- 
dical colleges, all recommending in the highest terms, 



SARSAPARILLA. 151 

the value of this medicine, and its superiority over 
other preparations of sarsapariila. Several cases of 
secondary syphilis, mercurial and scrofulous diseases, 
have entirely recovered in the incurable wards of our 
public institutions, which had for many years resisted 
every mode of treatment which could be devised. 
These cases furnish striking examples of the salutary 
effects of this medicine in arresting some of the most 
inveterate diseases after the glands were destroyed 
and the bones already affected. 

The dose of the fluid extract is two teaspoons full, 
morning and night, in a glass of water. Two table- 
spoons added to fifteen ounces of simple syrup, im- 
. mediately produces a mixture similar to a pound of 
the compound syrup of sarsapariila, and the same 
quantity added to fifteen ounces of water instantly 
forms a mixture, equivalent to a pint of the Lisbon 
diet drink. 

One bottle of the fluid extract of sarsapariila, is 
fully equal to a gallon of the syrup or decoction a» 
is generally made. 

Two' grains of corrosive sublimate carefully dissol- 
ved in a small portion of alcohol or water, and added 
to the syrup above formed, will be similar to the anti- 
scrofulous and syphilitic remedies lately introduced 
under various names. 

The fluid extract of sarsapariila is now prescribed 
by some of the most distinguished physicians in this 
city, and has been more efficient in practice, than any 
preparation of sarsapariila yet offered to the public. 
For the sd vantages it possesses over the ordinary 



152 SARSAPARILLA* 

preparations. See professor Dewees valuable work 
on the Practice of Physic, and most of the late stand- 
ard works on medicine. 

it is highly aproved of and recommended by pro- 
fessor Gibson, who has prescribed it Yerj successful- 
ly in his practice and prefers it to any other prepara- 
tion of sarsaparilla. 

Professor Eberle in the last edition of his Thera- 
peutics, vol. 2nd, page 506, makes the following re- 
marks: "Carpenter's compound fluid extract of sar- 
«aparilla is a very neat and excellent preparation, ltpos- 
sesses all the active properties of the root in a highly 
concentrated state, a tablespoon full being equivalent 
to half a* pint of the ordinary decoction. I have used 
it in several instances with decided benefit. From 
the smallness of the dose it is peculiarly adapted for 
administering this remedy to children." 

Professor Frost of the Medical College of South 
Carolina has written to me of the salutary effects of 
this medicine, in a case of secondary syphilus by us- 
ing two bottles, united with small doses of the per- 
chlorideof mercury, and his high opinion of this medi- 
cine and its superior advantages over the ordinary 
preparations of sarsaparilla. 

1 might quote numerous authorities in addition, of 
the most respectable character, but sufficient has been 
.said to establish the character of this preparation, and 
its decided superiority to the ordinary preparation! 
of garsaparillsu 



©XL OP BLACK PEPPER. 153 

CAUTION. 

After the reputation of any valuable medicine ii 
established with considerable expense, trouble, and 
many experiments by the proprietor, he should re- 
ceive the benefit of it. He is sometimes, however, 
interrupted by spurious imitation of his preparations, 
made by the ignorant who prepare inferior and fre- 
quently entirely different compounds, and sell them 
under the same name, and on the reputation of the 
genuine medicine, copying the directions, and putting 
it up in the same bottles and form. Thus frequently 
deceiving the public and injuring the reputation of 
valuable medicines. Under these circumstances, I 
would beg the faculty to be extremely particular in 
their orders for the extract of sarsaparilla, and to 
observe that each bottle will have my written sig- 
nature without which none will be genuine. 

A copperplate label is also on the outside of each 
bottle, on coloured paper, as a caution. 

Oil of Black Pepper. 

This article is precipitated in the preparation of 
piperine. It contains all the heat and acrimony of 
the pepper in a very powerful degree, and is no 
doubt the active principle of it. A portion 
of this oil is always combined with the piperine, to 
which it no doubt owes its effects. We find all the 
sensible characters of the piperine to increase or 
diminish in proportion to its degree of purity, or ai 
it may be more or less combined with the oil ; hence 



154 OIL OF BLACK PEPPER. 

it is that the pure white crystals of piperine are with- 
out taste, the yellow crystals possessing considerable 
heat and acrimony, and the dark greenish crystals 
arc extremely active and powerful, containing nearly 
fifty per cent, of oil. One drop of the oil of black 
pepper is equal to four grains of piperine. One 
drop of the oil of black pepper added to three grains 
of quinine, will greatly increase the powers of that 
remedy. 

CAUTION. 
Physicians should be extremely particular in their 
orders for this article, as an oil of pepper has been 
obtained by distillation, which is entirely different 
from the above preparation, possessing comparatively 
little or none of the active principle of the pepper — 
the above preparation is a fixed oil, and of course 
can not be obtained in this way. The object was 
no doubt, to obtain a cheaper preparation, but it 
will not answer the purpose at all, and would there- 
fore be dear at any price. As it has been sold for 
the true preparation, I make these observations that 
physicians may be on their guard in relation to it. 
I received some time since a letter from a highly re- 
spectable physician in Virginia, stating that he had 
been induced to make trial of the oil of black pepper 
from reading an article of mine on the subject in the 
American Journal of Medical Sciences, that he had 
written for some of it, and had obtained an article 
which did not in any way correspond with my des- 
cription of it, either in the appearance of the article 
or in any of its sensible characters. I requested 



OIL OP COPAIVA. 155 

him to send me on some of it to exmaine, and I was 
much surprised to find it was the distilled oil of pep- 
per which had been sent to him instead of that ob. 
tained in the process of piperine ; and it is more than 
probable others have been equally disappointed. 

Oil of Copaiva. 

This oil is obtained by distillation, from the bal- 
sam, and is a valuable preparation. It contains all 
the virtues of the balsam in a concentrated state, 
and being more limpid than the balsam, it is admin- 
istered with less inconvenience, and is altogether a 
very considerable improvement in the exhibition of 
copaiva, and altogether preferable to the common 
balsam. The dose of this oil is 5 to 8 drops. When 
distilled in glass vessels and pure, it is preferable te 
naptha for preserving potassium. 

Oil of Cubebs. 

This oil is obtained by distillation from the cubebs* 
It is a very active preparation and possesses all the 
virtues of the cubebs; and being a very concentrated 
preparation, is much preferable to the crude sub- 
stance, which is objectionable from the bulk of the 
dose, which is otherwise unpleasant. This is a val- 
uable adjunct to the oil or balsam copaiva, ten to 
twenty drops to an ounce of balsam, will greatly in- 
crease the powers of that remedy in gonorrhoea. 



CARPENTER'S 

CITRATE© KALI, 

For making Saline Draught or Neutral Mixlur*. 



I know of no article so desirable to the practitioner 
as the above preparation, for either city or country 
practice. When made extemporaneously forprescrip- 
tions with the lemon juice and salt of tartar, it is 
frequently not exactly neutralised, and the object and 
effect of the medicine is thus lost. It is also much 
more convenient, and at the same time less expensive, 
and being identical with the mixture fresh made with 
lemon juice and salt of tartar, is certainly in every 
respect preferable. It only requires to dissolve one 
drachm of this salt in four ounces of water, and you 
have at once the neutral mixture similar and equal 
in every respect as before said to that prepared 
with fresh lemon juice and salt of tartar. To the 
country practitioner this preparation is inestimable, 
as it furnishes him the means of access to a highly 
valuable medicine, which he otherwise would be 
cut off from, by the scarcity, difficulty and frequent 
impossibility of getting lemons in inland towns, and 
they are frequently not to be had in some parts of the 
season in our ports. It is unnecessary to quote any 
thing in relation to the Take of this medicine as * 



SOLIDIFIED COPAIVA. 157 

refn^crent in fever?, &c. &c. as it is appreciated 
and highly valued by every intelligent physician. 

This article will no doubt be altogether used when 
its properties become generally known. Wherever 
it has yet been used, it has given the highest degree 
of satisfaction and produced the most beneficial 
effects. 

Solidified Copaiva. 

Balsam copaiva is admitted by all to be one of the 
most nauseous and disagreeable articles of the ma- 
teria medica. Disguised or mixed as it may be, its 
unpleasant nature is still manifest, and little if at all 
diminished, communicating its nauseous taste, and 
imparting to the breath its disagreeable odour which 
is experienced for several hours after each dose, arid 
frequently acting as an emetic or cathartic. From 
these circumstances, its use is frequently abandoned* 
in cases where it otherwise might be of the highest 
utility, and even where it is almost indispensible, 
and other remedies much less efficient are substitu- 
ted, thus protracting the cure which could have 
been speedily effected by the copaiva. 

* Our distinguished professor of practice, in the first vol- 
ume of his therapeutics, page 417, observes, that two circum- 
stances frequently interfere with the exhibition of copaiva, 
and detracts from its utility. It sometimes purges, and when 
it does, its efficacy is lost or greatly diminished. If laudanum 
does not check this injurious tendency, it must be discontinu- 
ed; till the bowels recover their tone. To the stomachs of 
some persons, the copaiva is so exceedingly offensive, that it 
cannot be retained, as it is hardly possible to disguise the 
taste of the article: it is sometimes very difficult to overcome 
this prejudice. (See Chapman's Therapeutics.) 



158 SOLIDIFIED COIMJVA. 

Since the introduction of this remedy down to the- 
present period, it has ever been a desideratum to ob- 
viate these inconveniences, and it is a circumstance 
not less unfortunate, and much to be regretted, than 
it is singular in its character, that amidst the rapid 
inarch of improvement and discoveries, (which forma 
a peculiar character in modern chemistry and phar- 
maceutical knowledge) an improvement in the exhi- 
bition of copaiva, should so long have evaded the vi- 
gilent researches of the critical and scrutinising che- 
mist Under these circumstances 1 am pleased to 
submit my preparation of solidified copaiva,. which 
will obviate all the disadvantages possessed by the 
fluid balsam, and will present a preparation which 
can be conveniently administered in the form of pills,- 
without communicating its unpleasant taste, or im- 
parting odour to the breath. The solidified copaiva 
which I prepare, contains an extra portion of the oil 
of copaiva, which is united to the balsam and solidifi- 
ed together. See my formula for its preparation, in 
the last (eighth) edition of Professor Coxe's valuable 
dispensatory. The addition of the oil of copaiva in- 
creases its activity considerably; and it is ascertained 
by careful experiments, that eight grains of this pre- 
paration is equal to 30 drops of pure copaiva. The 
dose therefore is two pills, four grains each, three or 
four times a day. Solidified copaiva is prepared bj 
many, simply by adding calcined magnesia to bal- 
sam, without the addition of oil; this is a much weak- 
er preparation, requiring double the number of pills. 
Rezin or extract of copaiva, is also sold ; this arti- 



BLACK OXIDE OF MERCURY. 1 59 

cle is almost entirely inert, as the oil to which the 
activity of copaiva depends is driven off, it is tasteless, 
and nearly without odour, and of dark colour. 

This article therefore, differs from the solidified 
copaiva as commonly made, as well as from the re- 
zin, being not the least deteriorated in the prepara- 
tion, or weakened by foreign substances for the puF- 
pose of giving consistence. It is particularly re- 
commended to the faculty for its many advantage! 
over the balsam and all its preparations. 

The oil of copaiva is an active preparation, and it 
is the best mode of using this article, for being united 
with the balsam and solidified it can be made into pills, 
which can be taken without experiencing the nausea- 
ting taste of the oil, while the oil alone cannot be 
taken otherwise than in draughts, which will subject 
it to the same inconveniences with the fluid balsam, 
having its disagreeable taste with its unpleasant eC 
fects. 

Black Oxide of Mercury. 

For extemporaneously making the blue pill accord- 
ing to the popular opinion, that the mercury is in 
the state of oxide in blue mass. 

One fourth of a grain of the black oxide is equal to 
three grains of blue pill. This medicine is highly 
approved of by many physicians, and preferred by 
them to the blue mass, 



160 COMPOUND TONIC EXTRACT. 

Carpenter's Compound Tonic Extract. 

This article is a compound of some of the most ac- 
tive vegetable alkalies, being composed of cornine, 
quinine, pipcrine, capsicine, fyc. <^c. It has proved 
more efficient than any preparation yet employed in 
the treatment of intermittents. Arresting the par- 
oxysms in cases which had resisted quinine, and 
other remedies in large doses. For an account of 
the cornine, see Dr. Morton's valuable paper in the 
Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sci- 
ences. For an account of the piperine, see my paper 
in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 

Caution, 

This compound is entirely original with me, and 
several of the constituents only prepared by me, yet 
the name has been borrowed for another preparation, 
and my directions copied word for word, and has no 
doubt been sold on the reputation of mine. I would 
recommend the faculty to be extremely cautious and 
particular in their orders for this preparation, and I 
am sure they will not be disposed to patronize inno- 
vations of this kind, bu-t give preference to the true 
and original article. 



TEXT. SEM. STRAMONII, &C. 161 

Ext* Sent. Stramonii. 

This is a very active and highly valuable medicine 
Dose one fourth of a grain. For a full account of 
this article, see a paper published in the 7th volume 
of the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions. 

Extract of Quinine. 

This is the residuum of the preparation of quinine 
and is preferred by some to the sulphate, as it comes 
much lower than the former, being but one third the 
price, it would be well for physicians to satisfy them- 
selves of its value. Two grains are considered equal 
to one grain of the sulphate of quinine. 

CARPENTER'S 

Selection of Cinchona or Peruvian Barks. 

There is no article of the materia medica, in which 
there has been more fraud and deception than Peru- 
vian bark, the author, under these circumstances, 
has been extremely particular in the selection of these 
species, and has them put up in packages with his 
written signature on each, as a guarantee of their 
purity, and his responsibility if they should prove 
otherwise. 

Superior Red Bark. 

Selected with great care from the cinchona oblon- 
gifolia, and put up in pound and ounce scaled cy- 
lindrical packages. The red when pure, is the best 
species of Peruvian bark, it contains both the alka- 
lies, quinine and cinchonine, in considerable propor- 
tions. 

O 2 



162 CINCHONA OR PERUVIAN BARKS. 

Superior Calisaya Bark. 

(CALISAYA AKROLLENDA.) 

This is (he best species of yellow bark, and derivef 
its name from (he province in which it is collected. 
It is (he bark which yields quinine in greater propor- 
tion than other species, it is neatly put up in sealed 
cylindrical packages of pounds and ounces. 

Superior Loxa or Crown Bark. 

This bark was more esteemed in Spain than any 
other species, and was selected for the royal family, 
hence the name crown bark. This is a milder bark 
than the red or calisaya, its product is cinchonine. It 
agrees better with the weak and delicate stomach 
than the stronger barks. This, like the preceding, u 
put up in sealed packages of pounds and ounces, 

Maracaibo Bark. 

This is the best species of what is called common 
or low priced bark, the best bark is cheaper at a high- 
er price, than the present difference which exists be- 
tween the different kinds of bark; there is no advan- 
tage whatever in using inferior hark, but all the dis- 
advantages arise from it; still there are many that 
will have it, because it is lower priced. To such I 
would recommend the Maracaibo bark, being much 
superior to the Carthagena, and at an equally low 
price. 

For a full and detailed account of all the varieties 
©f bark which occur in commerce, «ee the article 
cinchona, in a ^proceeding part of this work. 



SULPHATE OF COKKfNE, &LC. 163 

Sulphate of Cornine. 

It gives me much pleasure to announce the disco- 
very which I made of an alkaline base in the cornus 
Florida, which I have denominated cornine, and 
which, with acids form neutral salts, the sulphate of 
which has proved a highly valuable tonic and fehri- 
uge. This article has been very carefully and ac- 
curately described by Dr. Samuel G. Morton of this 
city, in the Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and 
Physical Sciences, and from the most respectable 
sources in the Medical profession from various parts 
of the United States, where this article has been sent, 
the most corroborating evidences have been received 
of the unequivocal success of the cornine in the treat- 
ment of intermittent and remittent fevers, in the 
same doses as the quinine, and the only circumstance 
which precludes its competition with that substance, 
is the minute comparative proportion of cornine 
yielded by the cornus Florfda. If, however at any 
time, we should fail in our supplies of cinchona., 
which is not impossible, or even improbable, we shall 
then be able to supply its place by this principle of 
the cornus Florida. 

Extract of the Cornus Florida. 

The cornus Florida yields a beautiful extract re- 
sembling very closely that of cinchona^ differing how- 
ever in its sensible characters from the extracts of 
•the superior species of Peruvian bark, by being less 
^-bitter and roor® astringent. The following is the 



104 EXTRACT OF CORNUS CIRCINATA* 

most eligible mode for preparing this extract, evapo- 
rate in a sand or water bath, a tincture of the bark^ 
made by digesting it in proof spirits, in the propor- 
tion of two ounces of the former to a pint of the latter, 
suffering it to stand for at least a week before strain- 
ing, and occassionally during this time submit it 
for a few hours to a moderate heat, thereby facilitat- 
ing the solution. 

This extract from its most prominent and sensible 
characters, is unquestionably much more active than 
the common extract of Carthagena bark, and is a 
preparation admirably adapted in all cases where the 
cornus may be employed with advantage, and in 
consequence of being a concentrated preparation, se- 
parated from the ligneous and insoluble portions, and 
containing less gum and mucous matter, (which 
constitutes so large a proportion) is certainly much 
preferable to the crude substance, and no doubt will 
be resorted to by many country practitioners as a 
useful expedient, particulary in those places where 
this article is in profusion, and where bark of good 
quality is frequently very scarce, and sometimes e\ en 
unknown. 

Extract of Cornus Circinata. 

The cornus circinata is a more astringent substance 
than the florida, an extract may be made from it by 
the same process as that of the former. The cornus 
circinata has been very successfully administered in 
cases of dysentery by Professor Ives, of New Haven; 
(see Dr. Robison's interesting essay on this article in 
♦the North American Medical and Surgical Journal,^ 



CARPENTERS 
OIL OF CA^THARIDItf* 



»»$® 



This is a new and highly valuable article, and I 
have no doubt, from the many advantages which it 
possesses, that it will entirely supercede the common 
mode of blistering; a few drops rubbed two or three 
times on the part, will effectually draw a full and 
complete blister, with little or no pain, and without 
the necessity of applying any thing on it to assist the 
operation. This is certainly preferable to applying 
a plaster which often gets removed from one place to 
another, and thus frequently vesicates a greater sur* 
face than was intended or required, and sometimes 
from this frequent transition, only partly vesicates 
and causes considerable pain without having pro- 
duced the effect intended, or being any benefit what- 
ever to the patient. A piece of paper which has 
been made to imbibe this oil, forms an excellent 
blister, which may be accommodated accurately to 
the shape of any part, however irregular. The 
vesication thus produced is so exactly circumscribed, 
that the blister formed corresponds with the 
sharpest angles which may be given to the paper 
employed. One drop is sufficient to make a blister 
of the size of a quarter of a dollar. On such places 
where the skin is thicker or more solid than those 



166 OIL OF CANTHARIDIN. 

which are less exposed and covered with clothing 
it requires that the oil be applied two or three times 
in the course of one or two hours, or that the part to 
be blistered be covered rather more with the oil; 
this however will be seldom necessary, as blisters 
are most frequently applied on parts which does not 
require this particularity. 

It begins to draw in four, five or six hours, accord- 
ing to the place where it is applied. 

In some cases it may be advisable to cover the 
part with a little soft paper or linen where it will 
likely get rubbed ; but in most cases no protec- 
tion whatever is necessary. After the blister is cut 
and the lymphatic water is discharged, it will be of 
great service to press the epidermis close to the skin 
and in most cases it heals in twenty to forty-eight 
hours. 

When a rubefacient is wanted, one drop dissolved 
in ten or fifteen drops of sweet oil, or mixed with 
lard, will answer that purpose and for its convenience 
and ready application, will be better adapted than 
any preparation I am acquainted with. 

One ounce of this oil contains the vesicating pro- 
perties of nearly one pound of cantharides. Its use is 
so mild that generally speaking it produces a blister 
without the least disagreeable sensation, except on 
those places where muscles, nerves, or tendons are 
in a state of compression. We trust, an article pos- 
sessing so many advantages will receive the sanction 
of the faculty. 



EXTRACT OF BLACK PEPPER. 167 

P. S. We are pleased to find, since Ihe above has 
been written, that a number of experiments made 
by several distinguished members of the faculty, have 
resulted in the most satisfactory manner, and entirely 
corroborates the above statements. We therefore 
can offer the above preparation with the highest de- 
degree of confidence. 

Caution. 

To guard against spurious imitations of this article, 
each vial will have the written signature of the pro- 
prietor on the outside envelope of the same. 

Extract of Black Pepper. 

Digest one pound of coarsely ground black pepper 
in four pints of diluted alcohol for four days, occa- 
sionally submitting it to a temperature near ebulli- 
tion, in a water bath, filter and evaporate to the con- 
sistence of an extract. 

This is found also to be an active remedy in inter- 
mittents, in doses of 2 or 3 grains. In a soft state 
it has proved very convenient to give consistency to 
piperine and quinine, for the formation of pills, while 
at the same time it increases their activity. The ex- 
tract of pepper in every formula I have seen is di- 
rected to be prepared with water. This forms a 
much less active preparation, and possesses several 
inconveniences to which the former is not subject. 

I have employed both the white and the black 
pepper in the above preparations; and although it is 



168 CALOMEL. 

Etated by most authors that the white is milder than 
the black, I have found it to yield more pipeline, and 
an extract of much more acrimony and activity, and 
to contain much less colouring matter. The consti- 
tuent principles of pepper are piperine, oil, resin, 
fecula, and colouring matter. 

Calomel* 

This is decidedly themost valuable of the mercurial 
preparations, and there is no article of the materia 
medica which a physician should be more particular 
in than calomel, as it is more liable to be improperly 
prepared vvithoutany evident signs of the fact than any 
other preparation. It frequently contains a portion of 
corrosive sublimate, which does not in the least alter 
its external appearance. It is therefore an object of 
the highest importance for the physician to test his 
calomel before using it, unless he gets it where he 
can place the most implicit confidence. Corrosive 
sublimate may be detected if present in calomel, by 
precipitation being produced by the carbonate of 
potash, in a solution made by boiling the suspended 
sample with a small portion of muriate of ammonia 
in distilled water. A more simple mode, and one 
which will generally answer the purpose, is by rub- 
bing the calomel with the pure water of ammonia ; 
it should become intensely black, and not to exhibit 
any trace of an orange hue — also lime water, which 
is a more delicate test than ammonia, for the corro- 
sive sublimate. The mode of preparing calomel ia 
various; that by sublimation appears to be preferable 



CALOItlEL. 169 

and is the process now generally adopted in the pre- 
paration of calomel. It has been suggested that the 
precipitated calomel is more free from corrosive sub- 
limate ; this is altogether a mistaken notion, as the 
precipitated is quite as liable to contain ihe muriate* 
and also the sub-nitrate. When properly made, the 
sub-muriate obtained by precipitation, scarcely differs 
from that obtained by sublimation. Gottling found 
no other difference, than that the precipitated sub- 
muriate became gray when triturated with lime 
water, whereas the sublimed sub-muriate becomes 
black. But he exposed to heat, half an ounce of the pre. 
cipitated sub-muriate in asublimingapparatus; scarce- 
ly a grain of a reddish matter remained fixed, and the 
sublimed matter now became black when trituated 
with lime water, and differed in no respect from the 
sub-muriate prepared in the ordinary way by sublima= 
tion. It would therefore seem to be an improvement 
in the process to sublime the sub-muriate, after it is 
precipitated, especially as by that operation it would 
be most effectually separated from, any sub-nitrate 
which might be mixed with it. Colomel can be 
rendered completely free from corrosive sublimate 
by repeated washings in large quantities of water, the 
Jatter being soluble while calomel is not. The En- 
glish Calomel is generally prepared with great care, 
and free from corrosive sublimate^ and has consequent- 
ly been preferred by our physicians who prefer giv- 
ing a high price for it, to be more certain of obtaining 
a pure article. I am exceedingly pleased, however, 
to find that the calomel prepared by Messrs. Farr and 

P 



170 TARTAR EMETIC, &C. 

Kunzie, of our own city, is equal to any of the En- 
glish I have ever seen, and physicians and others can 
safely rely upon this calomel being equal to any of 
the imported, which is obtained by sublimation or 
precipitation. 

Tartar Emetic. 

This article so important to the physician, is ano- 
ther which he should be extremely careful in pur- 
chasing, as it is liable to vary considerably in activi- 
ty. It should always be purchased by him in crys- 
tals. The following are the characteristics of its pu- 
rity: A solution of it in distilled water ought to fur- 
nish a gold coloured precipitate with acetate of lead, 
soluble in nitric acid, and with lime water a white 
and extremely thick precipitate dissolving with faci- 
lity in pure nitric acid. If the crystals deliquesce, 
the presence of other salts may be inferred, and they 
ought to readily and totally dissolve in water, form- 
ing a clear solution both previous too, and after add- 
ing the wine, in making the antimonial wine. 

Pyroligneous Acid Purified. 

This is made of various degrees of strength, from 
number four to twelve. These numbers correspond 
with its strength compared with the common distilled 
vinegar of the shops, number eight is the most useful, 
and is more sold than any other. This acid is eight 
times the strength of the distilled vinegar generally 
fiold. Thus, one pint of this acid added to seven 
pints of water, instantly produces a pure vegetable 



PYROLIGNEOUS ACID PURIFIED. 171 

colourless vinegar, of the proper strength for the use 
•of apothecaries and druggists. 

In diluting the acid with water, it is only necessa- 
■ry to shake them well together. This acid is a pow- 
erful anticeptic in contagious diseases, and has the 
valuable effect of preserving meat and all animal food 
for days and weeks in the hottest weather, and will 
by washing the part affected, completely remove 
must, taint, and incipient putrefaction from ani- 
mal matter. It is particularly grateful and effi- 
cient as a fumigator. 

Pyroligneous acid will no doubt entirely supersede 
the distilled vinegar in medicine and the arts. It has 
been so completely separated from all impurities and 
foreign matter, as to furnish a perfectly pure acetic 
acid, invariable in its acid powers, and uniform in its 
chemical properties.' It is entirely free from any 
unpleasant taste, colour, or sediment, and forms a 
limpid colourless solution with ammonia. The com- 
mon distilled vinegar of the shops varies essentially 
in strength as well as purity, its acid powers differing 
from thirty to forty per cent, in value, and it is some- 
times 7°, and at other times 5° by the revenue 
acetometer, and hence the difficulty of getting an uni- 
form article for medical application. The difficulty 
appears now entirely obviated by means of the pyro- 
ligneous acid which will be of standard strength, ac- 
cording to the numbers, and we think it will imme- 
diately supersede the distilled vinegar on the substan- 
tial ground of. its preference. 



172 VEGETABLE EXTRACTS, ^»C 

Vegetable Extracts. 

These are a highly valuable and important class of 
medicines, and there is none in which there is a 
greater disparity in the quality, some of them are ex- 
tremely active, while the same is almost inert at other 
times, owing to the various modes of preparation, the 
time it has been kept, and other circumstances which 
influences its condition. It requires the physician to 
be more discriminating in this class of articles, than 
any other in the catalogue of medicines, he should be 
particularly guarded in the purchase of them, also in 
keeping them well protected from the air and light 
in a cool situation, and not accessible to dampness, 
he should be particular in ascertaining the manufac- 
turer of the extracts, in order that he may know 
whose preparation he can rely most upon, and having 
discovered a person who makes good extracts, he 
should under no circumstance use any other. I have 
found of the imported extracts those made by Man? 
der, Weaver & Mander, are superior to any I have 
ever seen, they are of uniform strength, and can al- 
ways be safely relied upon, I have made arrange- 
ments to be constantly supplied with extracts from 
this house, and physicians can always receive these 
extracts at my Chemical Warehouse, 301 Market 
street. 

Carbonate of Iron. 

The carbonate of Iron is one of the most excellent 
and safest chalybeates, it may be given from five to 
20 grains, but all chalybeates answer better in small 



' doses 



CARBONATE OF IRON. 173 



loses frequently repeated; hence it is the chalybeate 
waters, aided by saline medicines are so -beneficed. 

Physicians should always prefer the precipitated 
carbonate, which he should also be particular ,in 
knowing it to be properly made. The rubi.go ferri 
(sub. carb. ferri) is a very imperfect preparation, and. 
large quantities of it is now manufactured in a very 
rough and careless manner; I have seen considerable 
of it, which 1 found on examination to, be near one 
half whiting. In the Medico Chirurgical Review, 
vol. xviii. No. 42, for October, 1830,'is an interesting 
paper from the Glasgow Journal, on the pharmaceu- 
tical preparations of the precipitated carbonate of 
iron. The British pharmacopses direct a waters so- 
lution of sulphate of iron and sub-carbonate of soda 
to be mixed, and the resulting precipitate to be col- 
lected on a filter and dried. The precipitate at first 
is white, but soon becomes of a dark green colour? 
and very bulky in substance. Exposed to the air, 
the colour changes to a rusty yellow, the effect of 
oxygen. A decomposition is produced according to 
our author in the following manner. 

The precipitated carbonate ef.iron consists of car- 
bonic acid combined witji the black oxide, which 
black oxide readily combines with more oxygen, for- 
ming the red oxide of iron^ but as the red oxide can- 
not like the black, retain carbonic acid in combina- 
tion, this acid flies off. • So that in the yellow mat- 
ter alluded to, an additional dose of oxygen has taken 
the place before held by carbonic acid. The yellow 
colour. is owing to the red oxide existing in combinn.- 

P 2 



174 CARBONATE OF IRON. 

tion with water, or to use the language of moderh 
chemistry, a hydrate, and the yellow colour is chan- 
ged to red whenever we apply so much heat as will 
drive off the combined water. Then the red oxide of 
iron, or colcothar of vitriol alone remains. The con- 
sequence is, that what is sold in shops for precipita- 
ted corbonate of iron, contains no more than a trace 
of that substance, ami is frequently nothing more than 
colcothar of vitriol. This colcothar the author ob- 
serves, is not less different from carbonate of iron in 
its medicinal effects, than its chemical properties. 

I have seen patients of different ages and sexes 
swallow for a fortnight, at the rate of half an ounce 
per day of colcothar of vitriol, without producing any 
apparent effect, except that their stools were colour- 
ed by the powder to a reddish hue*, indicating that it 
had passed through the body unaltered. Whereas, I 
have seen a healthy man made sick by a dose of a 
quarter of a drachm of genuine carbonate of iron, and 
made to pass in consequence dark greenish black 
stools, for two days after, and I have seen similar ef- 
fects produced on patients, who had been unaffected 
by colcothar of vitriol. The sikness however is not 
produced after the first or second day. 

These observations deserve the attention of the 
profession in these days when carbonate of iron is so 
much in use. 

We give the remaining part of the paper inthe-au- 
thor's own words. 

From the preceding observation it is easy to ga- 
ther, that the two defects to be avoided are exposure 



CARBONATE OF IRON. 175 

to air and exposure to heat. Both of these defects 
I propose to avoid by forming the precipitated carbo- 
nate into an electuary, thus: 

Take of sulphate of iron and sub-carbonate of soda 
each eight ounces, powder each salt and dissolve them 

j separately in warm water, if necessary filter. Being 

i filtered and cool, niix the solutions in a deep vessel 
capable of holding one or two gallons of water, which 
fill up cold, stir, let it subside, and then decant the clear 
liquor from the precipitate, till up again with water 

1 and likewise again decant, and repeat this operation 
two or three times, so as to separate the soluble salt?, 
next put the precipitate on a filter of cotton or linen 
cloth, supported by a square frame. When the wa- 
ter has ceased to pass, gather into one hand the edges 
of the filter, so as to make it a sort of bag, and with 
the other twist round from the holding hand, down- 
wards, so as to squeeze out the remaining "water. 
The precipitate will now have the appearance of 
clay, too soft for moulding. With soft sugar and aro- 
matic powder in suitable proportions, make it into an 
electuary. 

Thus we obtain a carbonate of iron uniform in its 
properties, hardly deteriorated by the process it under- 
goes, and little liable to change by keeping. 

The precipitated carbonate of iron while yet moist, 
is soluble in carbonic acid. Hence a teaspoonful of 
the above electuary is soon dissolved in a glass of 
ginger beer, except the aromatic powder it contain?. 
It may be asked therefore, whether an eligible me» 

-chcine might not be obtained by uniting this prepara- 



176 CARBONATE OF IRON. 

tion with the ginger beer powders; the exdes$0t car-, 
bonic acid in them would dissolve the iron, and you 
would have a highly agreeable draught with all the 
chalybeate properties of this valuable medicine. 

G. W. Carpenter is pleased to inform the faculty 
he has prepared the above preparations in the most 
careful manner, and given them the following names, 
by which physicians can always designate them when, 
they wish these preparations prepared by me. 

•CARPENTER'S " 
Aromatic Chalybeate Confection. 

This article since I have had the pleasure of pre** 
paring it, has been used by a number of the most re- 
spectable physicians, and has given the highest de- 
gree o( satisfaction, and who accord fully with the 
writer in thereview. 

CARPENTERS 

Chalybeate Ginger Beer Powders. 

These powders form an extremely pleasant and 
agreeable draught, and from their tonic and chalybeate 
properties, aided by the stomachic effects of the fine 
purified ginger in their composition, render them an 
extremely valuable medicine, and adapted to many 
cases of weak and diseased state of the stomach and 
bowels. They have already been extensively used, 
and have given in all cases the highest degree of satis- 
faction, and produced the most salutary and benefi- 
cial eifects. 






CARBONATE OF IRON. 177 

From full experiments carefully made with the 
preparations of iron, as suggested above, the most sa- 
tisfactory results have occurred, and there appears to 
be no doubt but that it deserves all the attention of 
the faculty, which the writer claims, and that it will 
receive their sanction and approbation from its deci- 
ded superiority to the ordinary preparations of iron, 
will entirely supercede their use. 



'COMPOUND FLUID EXTRACT OF 

Buciiiiy. 

DIOSMA CRENATA. 

For Diseases of the Bladder, Obstructions of Urine, 

Chronic Gonnorhea, and Gleets of long standing. 

The Buchu leafs (Diosma Crenata) have been high- 
ly recommended for diseases of the bladder, by some 
of the most distinguished physicians in Europe; and 
when united with cubebs and diuretics, have effected 
some extraordinary cures, a few cases of which will 
be given hereafter. In order that physicians may 
have a uniform preparation of this valuable medicine, 
made in a careful manner, with proper proportions 
and specific dose adapted to the disease ; George W. 
Carpenter is pleased to announce his Compound Ex- 
tract of Buchu, which he recommends to the medi- 
cal profession as a concentrated preparation of this 
article, and the most convenient mode in which it can 
be exhibited, and which will obviate the necessity of 
preparing the decoction, which is always attended 
with trouble and expense, and always differs more 
or less in strength, according to the mode of prepa- 
ration, which different individuals adopt, and not un- 
frequently much impaired, if not totally rendered 
inert, by the injudicious and unskilful management of 
those unacquainted with pharmaceutical prepara- 
tions. This compound will therefore overcome all 



EXTRACT OF BUCHIT. 179 

these difiicaiiies, and being of uniform strength, and 
ready prepared for the patient, can be administered 
with more certainty of success by the practitioner, 
and with less trouble and expense to the patient. 
Under these circumstances, this medicine has been 
prepared expressly for the use of the faculty, and will 
no doubt receive their approbation and encourage- 
ment. 

Among various highly satisfactory accounts of the 
value of the Buchu in diseases of the bladder, ob- 
structions of urine, chronic gonnorhea, gleets of long 
standing, &c. I will quote a few cases and remarks 
by Dr. Ephriam McDowell, a highly distinguished 
physician and member of the Royal College of Sur- 
geons in Ireland, published in the transactions of the 
King and Queen College Physicians. 

A variety of remedies have been advised, says Dr. 
McDowell, for chronic inflammation of the bladder, 
&c. which when neglected, extends to the ureters 
and kidneys, producing a train of severe local as well 
as constitutional symptoms. Its original cause fre- 
quently cannot be discovered in many cases; we will 
however find it frequently succeeding to mismanaged 
i gonnorhea, neglected retention of urine, diseases of 
j the prostate glands, strictured urethra, or calculous 
| affections. 

In some cases, as for example, when it depends on 

diseases of the prostate gland, we can do little more 

than palliate urgent symptoms; in other instances 

much may be effected. 

A variety of remedies have been advised for these 



180 EXTRACT OF BUCHF. 

diseases, most of them I have repeatedly tried "with 
little or no effect, beyond that of being in some de- 
gree paliative. The Compound Buchu having been 
lately strongly recommended, 1 was induced to make 
trial of it, and my experiments have resulted in the 
most satisfactory manner, having succeeded in saving 
the most inveterate cases, in which I had no hopes of 
success. 1 will quote a few for example. 

Case First. 

The first case in which I used it, was apparently 
a hopeless one, recommended to me by a medical 
friend in December, 1821. James Thompson, 

get upwards of six years ill, emaciated a»ad 

greatly debilitated, lower extremities paralytic* 
When he passed his urine, it was generally either with 
great difficulty from its being loaded with a large 
quantity of slimy, tenaceous and stringy matter, or 
else involuntarily. His bowels were habitually cos- 
tive, appetite totally gone. He had been under the 
care of so many medical practitioners, without the 
least benefit, that I feared little could be done for 
him. I passed a bougie in the first instance, to ascer- 
tain the state of urethra, which I found rather irrita- 
table. I also used several of the common remedies, 
for irritable bladder with no effect, at the same time* 
closely attending to the state of the digestive organs;; 
lastly I gave the Compound Buchu, which gave im=s 
mediate relief. In six days after I found his appe- 
tite and strength improved, able to walk firmly, the 
mucous much diminished in quantity, capable of re- 



BUCHU. 181 

taining his urine some hours, and no longer passing it 
involuntarily. His own words to a medical friend 
were nearly the following: 

"Instead of being disturbed every five minutes dur- 
ing the night by painful erections, or by the desire of 
making water, I can sleep some hours at a time; no 
involuntary passing of urine. I can walk stoutly 
through my room, and even up stairs without help; 
my appetite is excellent; the heartburn gone; the se- 
diment in the urine greatly diminished. I feel a 
strength in my back and loins unknown to me for 
years.'' 1 He continued to improve for a considerable 
time, but being unable to obtain any more of the Bu- 
chu, he in some degree relapsed; his condition how- 
ever infinitely improved, and a short further continu- 
ance of the Buchu would restore him to entire health. 

Case Second, 

Philip Dwyer, aged sixty-seven years, sallow com- 
plexion, emaciated, ill for three years; complains of 
severe pain in the pubic region, particularly before 
he passes water. Great irritability of bladder, passing 
water in small quantities every quarter or half hour 
during the night; during the day can occasionally re- 
tain it for two or three hours. Less irritability when 
using much walking exercise; when sitting, is effec- 
ted with a stinging or scalding sensation in the pros- 
tate region. Urine generally white or muddy. Fre- 
quently passes a large quantity of slimy, pale yellow 
coloured, mucous, voided with great difficulty, and 
soon putrefying, is much relieved by its expulsion 

Q 



182 Bvvnv. 

from the bladder. Is greatly debilitated, and has lost 
much weight. Tongue loaded with yellowish mu- 
cous. Thirst No appetite. Bowels generally con- 
stipated. No enlargement of the prostate glands 
could be felt. 

Previous History. — Never had gonnorhcea. Has 

been a temperate liver. The disease commenced 
three years ago, first with slowness and difficulty in 
passing water, which was followed by frequent mic- 
turition. He attended the Talbot dispensary for 
rive months, and left town apparently cured. He re- 
lapsed however, in a month, and returned to the dis- 
pensary, May 13, 1822* He was ordered a pint of 
the Aqua Calcis daily, twenty drops of the muriated 
tincture o( iron three times daily, an opium supposi- 
tory (three grains) every night, and purgative pills to 
be taken occasionally. 

May 24. Up five times last night to pass water; 
slime in less quantity; can expel his urine with more 
force. 

May 29. Worse; up fifteen times last night The 
slime has not been discharged for some days; since 
its stoppage great irritability of the bladder has exis- 
ted. Prescribed the Buchu and continued the use of 
muriated tincture of iron. 

May 31. Reports that he has been better for the 
last two nights than for years previous. Passed a 
large quantity of slime yesterday, which came away 
readily: up but four times last night. 

June 7. Continues better. 
June 9. Great irritability of the bladder, A parn-^ 



BUCHU. 



I8*> 



ful swelling in pubic region; no mucous discharged 
for some days. This relapse arose from not being 
able to procure the Buchu during the last Week. 
The Buchu repealed as before., also the muriated 
"tincture of iron. 

June 21. Much better. The slime was dischar- 
ged after taking the medicine twice; up but twice 
last night. 

The Buchu continued as before. 

July 5. Continues mending. 

August 4. Called on me to say he continues well, 
and has been able to follow his ordinary occupation 
as a labourer, for the last month, and considers him- 
self radically cured. 

Case Third 

Henderson Waters, a debilitated and emaciated 
man, aged thirty-one years, visited me, August 4, 
1822, with my friend Dr. Cumming; found him la- 
bouring under much fever. Urine dribbling almost 
constantly from him, or else passing it in the quanti- 
ty of half an ounce every five minutes; the urine 
loaded with slime; lower extremities totally paraly- 
sed; the upper nearly so. His lower limbs rigid, and 
frequently jerked up under him by painful spasms; 
severe pains in the soles of his feet; much irritability 
of the rectum. The glans penis in a state of slough, 
from keeping it constantly immersed in the urinal. 
The last dorsal vetrebrae more prominent than usual: 
no pain caused by its forcible pressure. The usual 
^remedies were applied by two eminent physicians 



184 BUCHU. 

who had been attending him without success or be- 
nefit. 

June 8. Put on the use of the Buchu as the last 
case. 

August 10. Can retain his urine for half an hour 
at a time; little or no pain in the bladder; strength 
and appetite improved. The sloughs detached from 
penis, sore healthy; a slight slough over the trochan- 
ter major, from pressure and debility; ordered nour- 
ishing diet, and to continue the Buchu. 

August 20. (Reported by Dr.Cumming.) In every 
respect better; can now retain his urine for two or 
three hours at a time; no uneasiness in the bladder. 
For some days past, sitting up; looks greatly improv- 
ed. Tongue, pulse, and bowels natural. Paralytic 
affections of lower extremities, as before. 

August 30. At his work as a watchmaker. Can 
retain urine for four or five hours; health good; limbs 
much stronger. 

January 8. Continues as last reported, and is en- 
tirely recovered. 

In dispepsia it appears to be a valuable auxiliary to 
other medicines. I had an opportunity of meeting 
with a case of gravel, of the uric acid kind, in a se- 
dentary and dispeptic individual; the attack coming 
on whenever the digestive organs were deranged, 
and frequently lasting with much severity for three 
days, attended with violentpain,shootingin the course 
of the ureter to the groins, testicles, and anterior part 
of the thigh; much fever, restlessness, and irritability; 
any excess in drinking wine, invariably produced an 



BUCHU. 185 

■ attack. He has been in the habit, for the last three 
.years, of taking the Aqua Kali Caustica, whenever 
attacked, and usually continued it for a considerable 
time, in quantities of one ounce daily. In a late pa* 
roxysm,he took it along with the Buchu; a white 
precipitate in the urine in large quantities resulted; 
he then omitted the alcali and took the Buchu alone* 
He recovered rapidly; both the white and red preci- 
pitate ceased to recur, and he has had no attack of it 
since. 

The above accounts of Dr. McDowell are entitled 
to the highest degree of confidence, being a man 
highly distinguished in the medical profession, and of 
large experience^from the most extensive practice. 

Caution. 

After the reputation of any -valuable medicine is 
established with considerable expense, trouble and 
many experiments by theproprietor,heshould receive 
some benefit from it. He is sometimes, however, 
disappointed by the spurious imitation of his prepara- 
tions, made by the ignorant, who prepare inferior 
and frequently entirely different compounds, and sell 
under the same name, and on the reputation of the 

: genuine medicine, copying the directions, and putting 
it up in the same bottles and form, and thus frequent- 
ly deceiving the public, and injuring the reputation 

• of valuable medicines. Under these circumstances 
I would beg the faculty to be extremely particular 

<in their orders, and to observe that each bottle will 

«have my written signature, without which none will 
i ( *be genuine. 

a 2 



CARPENTER'S 

--SARATOGA POWDERS. 

FOR MAKING 

Congress Spring or Saratoga Waters. 

There is perhaps scarcely an individual in the Uni* 
ted States, who is not acquainted, either by experi- 
ence or report, with the salutary effects of the Con- 
gress Waters at Saratoga. From thirty to fifty thou- 
sand persons annually visit these Springs, many from 
the remotest sections of the United States, and some 
from the West Indies, and other foreign places. The 
great expense in visiting the Springs, excludes the 
greater portion of the community, (more than nine 
out often,) and the bottled water, from its high price, 
prevents its use to the extent of being serviceable, 
and confines it to a small number; it appears to be a 
serious evil that so valuable an article should be so 
restricted, that comparatively few should be able to 
enjoy what is so conducive to general health in the 
hot weather of our summer months. From these 
circumstances, Geo. W. Carpenter is pleased to an- 
nounce the preparation of the above powders, con- 
taining all the essential substances with which these 
celebrated Springs are impregnated, and from which 
the waters of the Congress Springs at Saratoga are 
precisely and effectually imitated. With a view to 
accommodate the public, and to bring into general 
-use so convenient and valuable a substitute for these 



SARATOGA POWDER'S. 187 

"waters, he has been induced to go very extensively 
into the manufacture of them, and to put them at a 
price to be within the reach of most persons. For 
the accommodation of the public, agents have been 
appointed in all the cities and principal inland towns, 
to give a general circulation to -so useful an article 
throughout the country. The public are recommen- 
ded to make trial of these powders, as he finds by ex- 
perience, and from the opinion of the most eminent 
•of the faculty, that the water made from them posses- 
ses the same medical qualities, is as effectual in its 
operations, and precise in taste as that taken imme- 
diately from the Springs. These powders are there- 
fore recommended as a valuable remedy in all cases 
where Saratoga Waters are prescribed. 

Persons on sea voyages, or residing at a distance 
from the Springs, and in warm climates, will at once 
perceive the great advantage of making use of these 
powders, which besides being more portable, and less 
expensive than the bottle water, will keep without 
injury for any length of time; and as they are equal 
in medical effect to that taken fresh from the Springs, 
they are certainly much preferable from the many ad- 
vantages they possess. 

These powders are superior to the Seidlitz, inas- 
much as they are equally aperient and agreeable, and 
at the same time possessing tonic and chalybeate 
qualities in a superior degree, and are consequently 
better adapted to weak and debilitated constitution! 
than any other cathartic in use. 

It is now scarcely two years 6ince the introductioa 



188 SARATOGA POWDERS. 

of these powders, in which time they have been sent 
to almost every populated section of the United 
States, and have given in all places the highest de- 
gree of satisfaction. They are now extensively used 
throughout the Southern States, where they are high- 
ly appreciated by the faculty, and extensively em- 
ployed by the most distinguished physicians. They 
have elicited from the professors of several medical 
institutions, and from highly distinguished individuals 
in various places, voluntary acknowledgements of 
high commendation on their valuable properties. The 
reputation and demand which Carpenter's Saratoga 
Powders have acquired, will no doubt be an induce- 
ment for the ignorant to attempt their preparation, 
the proprietor has already received frequent com- 
plaints that spurious and inferior imitations have 
been made, and that sales are effected on the repu- 
tation and character of his preparation. I deern it 
justice to the community to apprise them of these 
facts, that they may be on their guard. They should 
be particular to specify in their orders "Carpenter's 
Saratoga Powders," otherwise they may get a differ- 
ent article from what they intended. 

(£7= We are pleased to tind that the imitation pow- 
ders are not patronized by the faculty, but are objec- 
ted to wherever they are known, in many cases, how- 
ever, they are purchased by individuals who are not 
acquainted with the circumstances, and do not disco- 
ver the fact until they begin to make use of theme 
The proprietor has received numerous letters on the 
subject of this grievance, and a number of expres- 



SARATOGA POWDERS. 189 

sions of dissatisfaction have appeared in various jour- 
nals and Gazetts of the Southern States, where these 
powders are most used. The following is from the 
Southern Times and State Gazette, of July 11, 1831, 
published at Colombia, South Carolina. 

" I copy with pleasure the editorial article* from 
the National Gazette, of Philadelphia, because I can 
8afely and honestly say, the compliment is deserved. 
There are some very inferior imitations of Carpen- 
ter's Saratoga Powders, which are by no means 
worthy of public notice, compared to Carpenter's. 
As a summer laxative, equally pleasant and effica- 
cious as the water; these powders may be relied 
upon." 

* See National Gazette of June 22, 183L 



CARPENTER'S 

COMPOUND 

SYRUP OF LIVERWORT.. 

Hepatica Triloba* 

This plant has proved to be a safe and valuable 
medicine for Coughs, Spitting of Blood, Consump- 
tion, and Liver Complaints. 

Most of the medicines made use of for the above 
diseases, are of a stimulating nature, composed gene- 
rally of Rezins and Balsams, in alcoholic solutions, 
which, although sometimes giving temporary relief, 
in almost every instance where they are freely used, 
aggravate the disease and reduce the strength of the 
patient. 

This article possesses superior advantages over 
these preparations, its action being of a tonic, invigo- 
rating and strengthening nature, thus overcoming the 
disease, by promoting expectoration and gradually 
increasing the strength of the patient, and this with- 
out being attended with any unpleasant effects; 
it also agrees with the stomach in all cases, and is 
a pleasant and agreeable medicine to take. 

It has generally been administered in the form of 
tea or decoction; this has most frequently been im- 
properly made by those unacquainted with pharma- 
ceutical preparations, and has brought this medicine 
in disrepute, preventing its application in many eases., 



SYRUP OF LIVERWORT. 191 

where it would otherwise have proved highly useful 
and beneficial. 

To guard against these inconveniences, and to- 
bring before the public a concentrated preparation of 
this valuable article of uniform strength; George W. 
Carpenter is pleased to announce the preparation of 
Compound* Syrup of Liverwort, which will obviate 
all the disadvantages above described. This prepa- 
ration is as active as it can be made from the fresh 
plant, and the virtues considerably improved by the 
tonic and expectorant medicines which have been se- 
lected as adjuvants. 

Directions. — Dose for grown persons, a table- 
spoonful three or four times a day when the Cough 
is troublesome; for children a tea-spoonful may be ta- 
ken in the same manner. 

N. B. During the cough, the patient will find much 
advantage from taking a dietical jelly, made of the 
flour of Slippery Elm. 

REMARKS 

ON 

CARPSSTTER'S 
Compound Syrup of Liverwort. 

It is scarcely one year since the introduction of this 
preparation, in which time it has been sent to almost 
every populated section of the United States, and 
has in all places been highly approved of by the fa- 
culty, and prescribed by the most distinguished phy- 
sicians, and has given in all cases the moetdecided and 
unequivocal satisfaction, and produced the most salu- 



192 



SYRUP OF LIVERWORT. 




tary and beneficial effects — and in numerous instan- 
ces elicited, from the most distinguished members of 
the medical profession, (for whose use, and under 
whose direction the article is expressly prepared and 
respectfully submitted,) voluntary acknowledgements 
of high commendation upon the valuable properties 
of this medicine. 

The following are a few extracts from letters of 
highly respectable physicians, addressed to the sub- 
scriber on the subject of the above preparation. 

Prom Dr.T. P. Hereford of Hay market, Virginia. 
Whose observations on the Liverwort are entitled 
to the highest consideration. His experience with 
this plant is perhaps, superior to any other medical 
man in our country, and the public are indebted to 
him for many valuable and interesting essays on the 
subject, in our periodical journals and papers. 

From the National Intelligencer. 

As Phthisis Pulmonalis or Consumption of the 
Lungs has been emphatically styled an approbium 
medicorwn, and as it has for its victims all ages and 
sexes, and a large portion of the young and beautiful, 
it becomes the paramount duty of every humane phy- 
sician, to contribute in any way he can towards ar- 
resting in its march, this terrible disease. With an 
eye to this purpose, I have strenuously recommended, 
and do still recommend, the Liverwort, particularly 
Carpenter's Compound Syrup, which i consider the 
most valuable mode it can be exhibited* being a 



SYRWP OF LIVERWORT; 193 

concentrated preparation of the fresh plant, with 
valuable expectorant medicines selected as adjuvants, 
and although I have never recommended it as a 
medicine, indiscriminately adapted to all cases, yet 
} am fully persuaded that it has done more signal 
service than any other single remedy, so far as experi- 
ments with it have been made, or according to the 
extent it has acquired the public confidence 5 but we 
are too apt to appreciate lightly, or invest with little 
consequence, things which have the external appear- 
ance of simplicity; while those which are enrapt in 
secrecy, or have a mysterious character, allure, fas- 
cinate or inspire us with confidence and admiration. 
T. P. HEREFORD, M. D. 
Jan, 18, 1830. Haymarket, Virginia. 

From Dr. William Watson, a highly respectable 
physician of Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania; whose 
extensive practice and experience entitles his ob?. 
I servations to the highest public confidence. 

Bedford, June 27th, 1830; 
Dear Sir — You were pleased to send with my 
medicines, two bottles of your Compound Syrup of 
Liverwort. I have a favourite servant boy, who 
was taken with pneumonia inflammation, in Novem- 
ber last, which resisted all the remedies and means 1 
have been able to apply. For some time I have con- 
sidered him to be in the hectic state of phytisis, 
having purulent cough, much expectoration, night 
sweats, great emaciation, &c. Under these cir- 
cumstances, without any expectation of benefit, I 

R 



194 SYRUP OF LIVERWORT. 

gave him the two bottles you sent me as directed, 
and immediately the fever and expectoration dimin- 
ished*, the sweats were removed, and his strength 
and cheerfulness increased. I had a quantity of the 
herb gathered, a syrup made in the usual way, but 
notwithstanding the free use of this syrup, he imme- 
diately declined, and he is now in the state in which 
he was when he commenced with your preparation.. 
i believe a cure would have been effected by a few 
more bottles of your syrup. As I wish to give it a 
fair trial, you will please send me a dozen bottles. 
by the earliest opportunity, and oblige, 
Yours, &c. 

WILLIAM W- WATSON, M. IX 
To C W. Carpenter. 

We are pleased to hear the above case of Dr, 
Watson's is recovering under the further continuance 
of this preparation. 
The following extract from Dr. Thos. F. Slaughter,, 
a highly respectable and skilful physician of Orange 
Court House, Virginia, is additional evidence of the 
valuable properties of this medicine. 

Orange Court House, Virginia, June 1, 1830. 

Dear Sir — I made trial of Carpenter's Com- 
pound Syrup of Liverwort, in case of a lady, an old 
patient of mine, who had been afflicted for some time 
as I supposed with asthma, and who had been re- 
duced from extreme corpulency and robust health 
by her disease, to the verge of the grave; she used 
only one bottle of it, and has ever since been rapidly 
improving in health and appearance, which is attri- 



SYRUP OF LIVERWORT. 495 

butablc to the use of this medicine. She is solicit- 
ous for its further use, which 1 cannot gratify her in 
till I receive more of the article, f am anxious to 
make a fair trial of it in this case, as well for scien- 
tific purpose?, as for the great value of the life of the 
patient. 

Yours, respectfully, 

THOMAS F. SLAUGHTER. 
To Geo. W. Carpenter. 

The following extract from Dr. Richard M. Hill, 
a very respectable Physician of Gholsonville, Vir- 
ginia, is an additional testimony of the value of this 

preparation. 

Dear Sir — I am now making trial of your Com- 
pound Syrup of Liverwort, a few bottles of which I 

obtained in Petersburg, and so far, am highly pleased 

with its effects, and consider it admirably suited to 

the cases in which it is recommended. 

Yours, truly, 

RICHARD M. HILL, M. D. 

To Geo. W. Carpenter. 

It is much to be regretted, that every valuable 

preparation will be imitated by the ignorant. The 
subscriber has already received frequent complaints 
that spurious and inferior preparations have been 
offered, and that sales have been effected solely on 
the reputation of his preparation. He begs leave to 
apprize the faculty of these circumstances, and to in- 
form them that each bottle of his preparation will 
have his written signature " Geo. W. Carpenter;" 
.on the bottle, without which, none will be genuine. 

G, W, C, 



CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES, 

Shop Furniture $ Surgical Instruments^ 

For a Physician at the outset of his Practice:; 

PREPARED AT 

CARPENTERS 

CHEMICAL WAREHOUSE, 
No. 301, 

MARKBT STRKET, PHILADELPHIA; 

Where the articles can be procured of the most unex- 
ceptionable quality, put up in the neatest and most 
careful manner, and as lozo as those of like charac* 
ter can be had in Philadelphia or elsewhere. 

It is often a difficult task for the young practitioner 
4<b call to mind the various articles which he will re- 
quire at the outset of his practice, and particularly 
to proportion the quantities. In the annexed list are 
all the essential articles required for practice in the 
proportion which they are generally consumed. The 
quantities are made small, which is preferable at the 
commencement of practice, as they can be in- 
creased as they may be required. Those residim 
•at a considerable distance, and require some time U 



CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES. 197 

deceive their medicines after they are ordered, it 
would be advisable to increase the quantities of some 
■of the most important articles. 

-lb.. 02. 
Anlimonv, Tarlrat. - - 4 

Emetic purgative and diaphoretic, dose half grain 
to one scruple. 

Febrifug, (James's Powder) 4 

Diaphoretic, 5 to 10 grains. 
Alcohol, 3G, .... 2 

Stimulant, used as a menstruum or vehicle for 
other medicines. 

Aqua Ammonia, ... 8 

Stimulant and diaphoretic, dose 10 drops diluted 
with water; externally in frictions, 

Acid, Muriatic, - 4 

Stimulant, dose externally. 2 to 4 ounces in foot 
baths, internally, half drachm to 1 drachm in each 
pint. 

Acid Nitric, - 4 

Stimulant diuretic. In lemonade by drops until an 
agreeable acidity is produced. 

Acid Sulphuric, - - - 8 

Stimulant, dose 20 to 30 drops in 2 pounds of water. 

Acid, Pyroligneous Concentrated, 4 

Astringent, refrigerant when diluted, dose of the 
concentrated acid 1 scuple to 1 drachm, or com- 
mon acid 1 ounce. 

One pint of this concentrated acid added to 
seven pints of water, instantly produces a mixture 
similar and equal in every respect to the distilled 
vinegar of the shops. 

Acid, Tartaric, - - 4 4 

Refrigerent, dose 12 to 36 grains involution. 

Acid, Critic, .... 1 

Refrigerant, dose, 10 to 15 grains in^a pint ofliquid. 
It 2 



r I98 CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES. 

lb. QZ r 

One drachm of this salt dissolved in 2 ©z. of 
water, instantly produces a mixture equal to alike 
quantity of fresh lemon juice, and for many pur- 
poses of medicine is even preferable, being always 
of uniform strength. 

Acid (or Flor.) Benzoin, - -*#, 

Stimulant, dose 10 to 20 grains. 
Ammonia, Carbonate, - 4 

Stimulant, dose 5 grains to 1 scruple. 
Anodyne, Hoffman's, - - S 

Antispasmodic and anodyne, dose £ to 2 drachms. 

Arsenic, alb. crude, - 1 

Tonic, (externally an eschartic,) dose 1-10 to i 
grain. 

Fowler's solution of, - 4 

Febrifuge, 5 to 15 drops. 

jEther, Sulphuric, - 4 

Diffusible stimulant and antispasmodic, dose 10 to 
36 drops. 

Spt. Nitre, dulcis, » - - i 

Refrigerant, diuretic and antispasmodic, dose 20 to 
40 drops. 

Aqua Rosarum, - - 1 

Slightly Astringent, 
Arrow Root, Bermuda, - - 1 

Nutrient. 
Argent Nitrat, ~v = - i 

Tonic, antispasmodic and escharotic ^ to 4 grains. 

Blue Pill Mass, - - * 2 

Stimulant, and antisyphilitic,'dose 5 to 8 grains. 

Boras, Sodas, ... 4 

Detergent, 1 scruple to 1 drachm, in gargles. 

Bismuth, oxyd. alb. - - 1 

Tonic and antispasmodic, dose 2 to~12 grains. 



CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES. 190 

lb. oz. 
Burgundy pitch, - *• - 1 

Externally rubefacient. 

Black drop, - - - 'l 

Anodyne and sudorific, 5 to 15 drops. 

Balsam copaiva, - *8 

Astringent, dose 20 to 60 drops in any emolieat 
mixture. 

-Solidified copaiva - 9 

Two four grain pills are equal to a dose of the 
balsam 

Oil of Copaiva, in vials - £ doz. 

This may be used in the same manner as the 
balsam, dose 5 to 10 drops. 
Balsam tolu, ■- 1 

Dose, 6 to 24 grains. 

Black Oxyde of Mercury, - '1 

For extemporaneously making Blue Pills, $ 
grain equal td 4 grams of the latter. 

Bac. Juniper, - 8 

Diuretic and cordial, infusion, a teacup full every 3 
or 4 hours. 

Cubebs, - 4 

In gonnorhea, 20 to 30 drops. 

Oil of cubebs, ... £ 

This is a valuable adjunct to copaiva, 10 or 15 
drops added to a copaiva mixture will increase its 
virtues considerably in cases of gonnorhea. 

Sulphur, sublimed, 

Laxative and diaphoretic, dose 1 to 3 drachms. 

Bol armenia?, - - - .1 

Perkins's blister cloth, - - 1 box. 4 

A very convenient article for the country phy- 
sician, being ready spread for immediate use. 

-Creta, ppt. ' - - ' • 8 

Antacid and absorbent,- dose 10 grains to 2 scruples. 



200 GATALOGPE OF MEDICINES. 

lb. 

Garb, Ferri, •'•■■*- 

Tonic and emmenagogue, dose from 4 to 20 grains 
twice a day. 

Magnesia, - 

Absorbant, purgative, used for acidity in the priim- 
via, an;l cases ot' poisoning by sulphuric acid, dose 
from 1 scruple to 1 drachm. 

Canella alba, - 

Stimulant and slightly Ionic, dose from l'O' grains to 
1 drachm. 

Citrated Kali, 

This is a very valuable medicine in fevers; 1 
drachm dissolved in 4 oz. of water instantly pro- 
duces the saline mixture, similar and equal in every 
respect to that prepared with fresh lemon juice, 
and salt of tartar. 

Pulv. Colocynth, - 

Drastic purgative, dose 10 grains to 1 scruple. 

Cream of Tartar, - - - 2 

Purgative, diuretic and refrigerent, dose 4 to 6 
drachms. 

Catechu, - 

Astringent, dose 2 scruples to I drachm in infusion 
or mixture. 

Cochineal, . . . 

Antispasmodic and anodyne, in whooping cough. 

Cort Peru Rub. ... i 

Tonic, febrifuge and antiseptic, in adynamic inter- 
mittent fevers, scorbutus, gangrene, &c. 

Cort Peru (common;) or Carthagena. 

1*12 the value of the former. 

Cort. aurant, - - •* ,\ 

Refrigerant. In fevers and inflammations 1 scrtt- 
:ple to 1 drachm. 

Mazerion, 

"Stimulating diaphoretic, dose 1 to 4 .grains. 



CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES. 201 

lb. oz. 
Caryophillum, ... 4 

Tonic, stomachic, and emmanagague, dose 6 to 12 
grains. 

'Cassia, - - - - A 

Stimulant, cordial dose 10 to 20 grains. 

Calomel, - 8 

Purgative, vermifuge and syphilitic, dose 1 to li 
grains. 

Corrosive sublimate, - - 1 

Dose 4 to ^ grain in solution. 
Cera, alb. ... g 

External application in the composition of cerate. 

Denarcotised acidulous tincture of Opium, 8 

This will be found very useful in cases wh«re 
opium and common laudanum disagrees with the 
patient. This is sedative without the stimulating 
properties of opium. Dose 15 to 25 drops. 

Secale Cornut. pulv. -« » 1 

In parturition, dose 20 to 30 grains in powder. 

Emplast. Epispastic, - - 3 

adhesive, - - & 

ditto, spread on linen, **■ %yd. 

Dyacylon, simple, -«■ % 

ditto, cum. gum. - 8 

Roborans, - 8 

Extract Gentian, - 1 

Tonic and stomachic, dose 1 to 4 grains. 

Colocynth, comp. - % 

Cathartic, 5 to 10 grains. 

Hyociami, - - 1 

Narcotic, antispasmodic and resolvent in all ner- 
vous disorders, dose 1 to 2 grains. 

Cicuta, ... 1 

Narcotic, anodyne, and resolvent, dose 2 to 10, grains, 



202 CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES. 

lb. o*. 
externally in cataplasms, lotios, Stc. in scirrhous 
and cancerous affections. 

Stramonii, 

Narcotic, and resolvent in epilepsy, histeria, corea 
and cancer. 

Glycyrrhiza, - 1 

Demulcent in allaying" coughs, dose 2 to 6 grains. 

Quinine, - 1 

Two grains of this extract are equal to one grain 
of the sulphate, and is at one third the price. 

Carpenter's Compound Fluid Extract of 

Sarsapariila, - - - a doz. 

One tablespoon fid of this extract added to a pint 
of water, instantly produces the Lisbon Diet Drink 
of the usual strength. It is particularly recom- 
mended to the faculty as an active preparation of 
Sarsapariila, and for its convenience and portability. 

CAUTION. 

The reputation and demand for this article has induced 
base imitations of it, against which the faculty should be on 
their guard. 

Caustic, potass, ... 1 

Used externally as an escharotic. 

Cantharides, - 4 

Internally, stimulant and diuretic; and externally 
rubefacient and epispatic^ dose 1 to 3 grains. 

Conserv. rosarum, - 4 

As a vehicle for other remedies. 
Elaterium, (Clutterbuck,) - 1-8 

Dose 1-8 to 1-4 grain. 

Flor. Chamomile, * 4 

Aromatic and emmenagogue, dose, in infusion, 
from 2 scruples to 2 drachms. 

Fol. Senna Alexandria, - 8 

Purgative, 2 drachms to 1 ounce, in infusion* 



CATALOGUE OF MEMCINES. 203 

lb. oz. . 

F©1. Digitalis, - 2' 

Diuretic and sedative, dose 1 grain to 1 scruple. 

Uva Ursi, ... 4 

Astringent and diuretic, dose 1 scruple to 1 drachm 
two or three times a day. 

Sabina, ... 4 

A powerful stimulant, with diaphoretic emana- 
gogue and anthelmintic properties, dose 5 to 10 
grains two or three times a day. 

Opium, - 4 

Narcotic, anodyne and sudorific, dose $ to^S grains* 

Manna Flake, - 4 

Laxative, dose for children 1 to 4 drachms, adults, 
1 to 2 ounces. 

Camphor, ... 4 

Sedative .vermifuge and sudorific, dose 2 to 20 grains 
suspended "in emulsion. 

Gum Myrrh, Pulv. - 2 

Tonic, vermifuge, emmanagogue and stimulant, 
scarcely used except externally, dose 15 to SO. 
grains. 

Assafcetida, ... 8; 

Antispasmodic, dose 12 to 30 grains; in enema £ 
drachm. 

Guaiac, - 4- 

Sudorific and antisyphilitic r in gout, rheumatism, 
syphilis, &.c. dose £ to 1 drachm in powder; 
tinct. 1 drachm to £ ounce. 

Aloes, ... 8 

Drastic purgative, dose 5 to 30 grains. 

Ammoniac, - 4 

Stimulant and expectorant, dose 6 to 20 grains in 
emulsion. 

Kino, - - - S 

Tonic, astringent and febrifuge, tincture f t to 1 
drachm; powder 15 to 30 grains. 



204' CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES; 

Gamboge, - 2 

Drastic purgative, in passive dropsy, chronic jaum 
dice, vermes, &c. dose 5 to 15 grains. 

Scammony,. * ■* 1 

Drastic purgative, dose 5 to, 20 grains. This is the 
Aleppo scammony, the Symrna is very inferior, 
and should not be used. 

Arabic, ... 4 

Demulcent and pectoral, dose £ to 1 ounce. 
Glyster Pipes > - - - \ doz. 

Hydriodat Potass, - - 1: 

See the remarks on this article and Iodine in a pre- 
ceding part of this work. 

Iodine, - - - 1 

Kermes Mineral, - 1 

Diaphoretic expectorant and emetic, dose 1 to 2 
grains. 

Patent Lint, - - 4 

Magnesia, Calcined, - 4 

Antacid and purgative, dose 1 to 2 drachms. 
Oleum Olivarum,- - - 1 bot. 

Purgative, emetic and demulcent, dose £ 'to 4 oz. 

Bergamot, - - - 1 oz. 

Used in giving fragrance to cologne water and 
other articles! 

Lemon, - X 

Used the same. 

Ricini, - -. - 2bot. 

Purgative, dose gij to ?ij. 

Cinnamon, - \ 

Stimulant, Cordial, dose 2 to 5 drops. 

Caryophilli, -- - - 1 



Tonic, stomachic, said emmanagogue, dose 5 to 10 
drops. 



CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES. 205 

lb. oz. 
Oleum Carui, ... % 

Stimulant and carminative, used as an adjunct to 
purgative pills, dose 1 to 10 drops. 

Juniper, ... I 

Carminitive, diaphoretic and diuretic, dose from 2 to 
10 drops. It is sometimes given in dropsy and 
may be added to Foxglove when given in pills. 

Lavender, - 1 

Stimulant and cordial, dose 1 to 4 drops. 

Sabina, - 1 

Stmulant, diaphoretic and emmenagoguej, dose 
from 2 to 6 drops. 

Wormseed, - - 1 

Anthelmintic, 10 to 20 drops. 

Menth. Pip. ... - 1 

Stimulant and carminitive, dose 1 to 3 drops. 

Sassafras, - • 1 

Stimulant, sudorific anddiuretic, in chronic rheuma- 
tism and cutaneous affections, dose 2 to 10 drops. 

Croton Tig. - - - 1 vial. 

Purgative, 1 to 2 drops. See full account of it in 
a preceding part of this work. 

Oil of Black Pepper, - - 1 viaL 

This is much more active than the piperine, one 
drop of which is equal to 3 grains of the latter. 
It is a valuable adjunct to Quinine, 1 or 2 drops 
added to 6 grains will greatly increase the power* 
of that medicine. 

Oil of Amber, rectified, - \ 

Stimulant, antispasmodic and rubefacient, dose from 
5 to 12 drops. 

Aniseed, * % 

Carminative, dose from 5 to 15 drops. 
Merc. Precipit. Alb. - - \ 

Externally in the form of oil for cutaneous erup? 

lions. 

5 



CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES. 

lb. oz. 
Merc. Prccipit. Rub. - - 4 

JSscharotic, externally incorporated with cerate or 
other ointments. 

Pipcrine, - i 

This is highly approved of by the faculty as an 
adjunct to quinine in intermittent fevers. For a 
full and detailed account of this article, see my 
paper in the American Journal of Medical Sci- 
ences. 

♦Pill Boxes, 2 papers. 

Pulv. Jalap* ' •- 8 

Purgative, dose in powder 15 to 30 grains. 
Pulv. Rhei, - - - 3 

Purgative, dose 30 to 40 grains. 

Pulv. Ipecac. - 4 

Em«tic, purgative and diaphoretic, dose in powder 
15 to 30 grains. 

Quicksilver, (Hydrargyrum,) - 4 

Vermifuge, in decoction 1 pound of mercury to 2 
pounds of water. 

Rass. Lig. Quassia, • 4 

Tonic, stomachic, febrifuge, dose in powder from 1 
scruple to 1 drachm, infusion 1 to 2 drahms, tinc- 
ture £ drachm to 1 ounce. 

Rad Gentian, . - 3 

Bitter, tonic and febrifuge, tincture £ to 2 drachms. 

Colombo, - 1 

Stomachic and anti-emetic. Employed in nervous af- 
fections of the stomach, dose £ drachm to 1 ounce. 

Do. Pulv. - - 8 

Serpentaria, - 4 

Tonic, febrifuge and diaphoretic, dose from 1 to 2 
drachms in infusion. 

Senega, ... 4 

Stimulant, expectorant and diaphoretic, dose de- 
coction, I to 1 ounce, powder 10 grains to half 
arachm. 



CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES* 207 

lb, oz. 
Spigcla, . - - - C 

Vermifuge, dose 2 to 4 drachms in infusion. 

Sarsaparilia, ... f 

Sudorific, in syphilis, diseases of the skin, gout, 
and rheumatism; dose, decoction 1 to 2 ounces; 
the fluid extract is the best preparation, see a 
preceding part of this work. 

Scilla, *.*'•" 4 

Diuretic, emetic and expectorant, in dropsies, Sic. 
dose from 4 to 12 grains, oxymel and syrup, 2 
drachms to £ an ounce. 

Glycyrrniza, - - 8 

Mild demulcent, in decoctions generally, and joined 
to other remedies. 

Valerian, ... 4 

Antispasmodic, tincture 25 to 60 dropsy dose in 
power 20 to 60 grains. 

Sponge, fine, .... 2 

Sem. Foeniculi, - - . 4 

Carmative, used with senna and other purgative 
medicines. 

Anisi, ... 4 

Used same as the above. 
Sulphate Quinine,. * - £ 

Tonic and febrifuge, dose 1 to 5 grains. 

Compound Syrup of Hepatica, - £ doz. 

This is a valuable tonic and expectorant medi- 
cine, and will be highly useful in most cases of 
pulmonic and hepatic affections. For a full ac- 
count of this article see a preceeding part of this 
work. 

Sub. Carb» Soda, - 4 

Stimulant, diuretic and sodorific, dose 20 to 40 
grains. 

Sapo. Castile,. • - 4 

Aperative and dissolvent, used as an adjunct to aloes 
and other purgatives in pills, externally in fo- 
mentations, lotions and baths. 

B 



208 CATALOGUE OF MEDICINE. 

lb. oz% 
Spermaceti, ... i 

Demulcent, emolient, dose £ to 1 drachm, ift the 
form of emulsion, externally in the composition 
of several ointments. 

Salts, Glauber, »• - - 2 

Epsom, - - . 6 

Purgative, 1£ to 2 ounces. 

Sal. Tartar, (Sub. Carb. Potass.) - 4 

X>eeb»truent, diuretie *md RtitsckJ, used In saline 
draughts neutralised with lemon juice, 

Rochelle, • 8 

Purgative, £ to 2 ounces. 

Soda, (sub, carb.) - * 4 

Antacid diuretic, dose 10 to 20 grains, 

Ammonia, (muriate,) - 4 

Ditphoretie, diuretic, febrifuge end tonic, dose 10 
grains to 2 scruples, externally discutient,. 

Nitri, • 4 

Befrige rant and diuretic, and when externally ap* 
plied, cooling and detergent; dose 10 to 15 
grains. 

Martis, - 4 

Tonic and febrifuge, dose from 1 scruple to 2 
ounces in solution or pills. 

Sac. Saturnij - 3 

Styptic and antisudorific, dose externally 2 drachms 
to 1 ounce in a pound of water, internally 1 
grain in pills or solution. 

Sulph. Potass, ... 4 

Purgative, dose £ to 2 ounces in water. 
Ung. Merc. Fort. - 4 

Externally applied. 

Citrini, - % 

T.xternally applied, stimulating and detergent 
in herpatic and other cutaneous eruptions. 



CATALOGUE OF MEDICINES. 269 

lb. oz. 
Carpenter's Saratoga Powders, - •£ doz. 

This is a valuable medicine where the stomach 
is debilitated, ar.d ordinary medicines cannot be 
retained. It is much preferable to the Seidlitz 
Powders, being equally aperient, and at the same 
time possessing' valuable tonic and chalybeate 
effects. 

CAUTION. 

This article has been imitated, and the faculty 
should be particular or they may get the spurious 
kind. 

Carpenter's Compound Extract of Buchu. 

This is a new article and will be found highly 
valuable in diseases of the bladder. It is recom- 
mended by some of the most distinguished phy- 
sicians in the English MedicalJournals. For a full 
account of it see a preceding part cf this work. 



Composition Mortar and Pestle, 


- 




No. 


1 


Glass Funnel, 


- 


- 




it 


1 


Graduated Measure, 


- 


- 




it 


1 


Scales and Weights, 


- 


... 


1 sett. 






Spatulas, different sizes, 


- 


.. 




tt 


2 


Sheep Skin, 


- 


- 


! i 


it 


I 


Syringes, Penis, 


- 


- 




tt 


6 


Do. Female, 


- 


.- 




ft 


3 


Do. Enema pint, 


- 


- 




tt 


1 


Stomach Tube, Elastic, 


•» 


-. 




«t 


1 


Scarificator, 


- 


- 




tt 


1 


Cupping glasses, - 


- 


- 




tt 


6 


Thumb Lancets, ■• 


- 


- 




tt 


2 


Catheters, Elastic, 


- 


- 




tt 


6 


Bougies, - 


- 


- 




tt 


6 


Pocket Case of Instruments, 


• 


1 sett. 






Teeth Extracted, in case 


> 


- 


1 do. 







No. 


1 


c; 


4 


u 


n 


i; 


12 


t; 


n 


u 


t$ 


it 


6 


(I 


6 


14 


6 


qrs. 




gross. 


* 


do. 


1 



-210 CATALOGUE 0# MEDICINES- 

Breast Pipe, ... 

Nipple Shells, 
Quart Specie Bottles, 
Do. Tinctures, - 
Pint Species, 
Do. Tinctures, 
Half pint Salt mo. 
Do. Tinctures, - 
4 oz. Tinctures, - 
Wrapping Paper, blue and white, 
Assorted Vials, - 
Vial Corks, - 

The following articles can always be had at Carpen- 
ters Chemical Warehouse, and are frequently 
wanted by the physician zvho has become established 
in successful practice. 

French Skeletons on Wires — Male and Female. 

These are Very superior, the bones are white as anow, the 
teeth perfect, and put together in the most neat and substan= 
tial manner, and with the most anatomical precision. 

Arterial Preparations. 

Very complete arteries and veins injected, and muscles 
^displayed. 

Dissected Heads and Separated Craniums. 

Heads sawed in various ways. 

Ditto, with Dr. Galls Phrenological marks, illus- 
trating his System of Phrenology, and referring by 
numbers to his work, 

French Anatomical Preparations, preserved in 
alcohol. 

G. W. C. always keeps on hand a large assort- 



% 



CATALOGUE OF INSTRUMENTS. Ill 

ment of London and American Surgical Instruments 
of all descriptions, of the most superior quality. 

He will also at any time have made to order, any 
description of Surgical Instruments which may be 
wanted. 

Very superior setts of Cupping instruments, in 
mahogany case, with exhausting syringe, &c. They 
are now in general use in this city, and are much 
preferable to the ordinary mode of cupping. 

Pill Machines, to make from 12 to 24 pills, and 
size from 1 to 4 grains. They will be found a very 
convenient, and highly useful article for the physi- 
cian who has a large practice. 

Superior French Syringes, of every description, 
for the Ear and Eye, Penis, Female, Enema, Sto- 
mach Pumps, &c. &c. These are made of block 
tin, and are much superior to the pewter Syringes, 
they are made very true, being bored and turned, 
instead of cast, and work as true as an air pump. 

Eye Glasses, to wash the eye without the neces- 
sity of bathing it with a cloth, which frequently irri- 
tates, and only has access to the exterior. 

Very neat small cases for filing, plugging, and scal- 
ing the teeth. 

Obstetrical Models, or machines of leather, with 
mannakin, complete, for illustrating the practice of 
obstetrics. 

Obstetrical Instruments of every description, all 
complete and of the best quality. 

Splints for the thigh, each arm and legs, all com- 
plete. 



^12 INSTRUMENTS, &C. 

Amesbury's Apparatus for Fractures of the Leg 
and Thigh. 

Vaccine Virus Bottles for preserving the virus. 

Having made arrangements with one of the Vac- 
cine Physicians of this city, Physicians in the coun- 
try will be supplied with fresh Virus, by application 
to the subscriber on the lowest terms. 

Having made preparations particularly for supply- 
ing physicians in the country, they can at all times 
depend upon receiving every article carefully select- 
ed of the choicest and most unexceptionable quality, 
and their orders will receive the most prompt and 
particular attention 



OF 

SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, 
Used In Practice^ &c< 

If will no doubt be intarasting to the practitioner, 
to have a list of the Surgical Instruments now in use, 
with a description of the contents of the different 
setts and eases, which are put up under various 
names. 



In a mat mahogany case^ containing the follow* 
ing instruments, 

Dr. Physic's GorgSt, with 6 blades of different sizes^ 
4 pair Forceps, different sizes, 
4 Male Sounds, 
4 Male Staffs, 
1 Female Sound, 

1 Staff, 

1 Scoop, 

1 Hamula, 

1 Scalpel, 

! pair of Forceps with a screw for breaking stone 



Amputating. 

In a neat mahogany case, containing the following: 
I Capital Saw, 
1 Metacarpal, do, 



211 CATALOGUE ©F 

2 Capital Knives, 
1 Catline Knife, 

1 pair Artery Forceps with Slider, 

1 Scalpel, steel handle, 

1 pair Bone Nippers, 

3 Tourniquet, 

12 Curved Needles, 
1 Tenaculum. 



Trepanning. 

In a neat mahogany case, containing th*c following 

2 Trephines, 

1 Elevator, 

1 Hey's Saw, 

1 Scalpel with Raspiter, 

1 Brush. 



lUiawijery. 

In a neat Lather case, containingthe following: 

1 pair Forceps^ 

1 Vectis, 

1 Crotchet, 

1 Perforating Scissors, 

1 Blunt Hook. • 



Dissecting. 

In a neat mahogany or morocco case containing 
the follozoing: 
6 Scalpels, 
1 Single Hook, 
1 Double Hook with a joint, 
1 pair Forceps, 
1 Silver Blow Pipe, 
.1 pair Scissors. 



SURGICAL SNSTRU3IENTS. 21 5> 

Pocket Instruments. No. 1. 

In a neat morocco case with a lock or 4 fold,, 
containing the following'. 

pair crooked Scissors, 

straight do. 

Dressing Forceps, 

Dissecting do. 

Director, 
Spatula, 
Silver Probes, 
Tonsil Forceps, 

Curved probe pointed Bistoury,, 
Large Scalpel, 
Gum Lancet, 
Abscess Lancet, 
Tenaculum, 
Small Scalpel, 
Straight Spear, 
Silver Female Catheter,. 
Physic's Forceps and Needle, 
Thumb Lancet, 
6 Curved Needles. 



Pocket Instruments. No. 2. 

In a neat morocco cast with a lock or 3 fo Id, con- 
taining the following'. 

1 Pair crooked Scissors, 

1 Dressing forceps, 

1 Dissecting do. 

1 Director, 

1 Spatula, 

2 Probes, 

1 Tonsil Forceps, 
1 Curved probe point Bistoury,. 
! Straight Spear do. 

Large Scalpel, 



*16 CATALOGUE OF 

1 Tenaculum 
I Abscess Lancet, 
1 Gum do. 

1 Thumb do. 
6 Curved Needles. 



Pocket Instruments. No. 3. 

In a neat morocco case with a lock, or 2foId^ con- 
taining: 

1 large Scalpel, 

1 pair straight Scissors, 

1 Curved Spear Bistoury, 

2 Probes, 

1 Tenaculum, 

1 Spatula, 

1 Pair Dressing Forceps, 

1 Director, 

1 Gum Lancet, 

1 Thumb Lancet, 

6 Curved Needles. 



Eye Instruments. 

In a neat case, containing: 

3 Knives, 

1 Iris Knife, 

2 Needles, curved and straight, 
1 Curette and Hook, 

1 silver Speculum, 

I pair Forceps, 

1 Curved Scissors. 



Phlebotomy. 

Silver Sping Lancets, Button-trigger, 
Do. do. do. Lever, 
Brass do. do. do. 
Horse do. do. 



SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 217 



Thumb Lancets, 
Lancet Phlemes. 



Cupping. 

In a neat mahogany case containing: 

6 Glass Cups with brass caps and valves, 
1 Brass Pump or Exhauster, 
1 ^Scarificator improved. 
*Or with German Scarificator. 



Plain Sets of Cupping. 

In a neat mahogany case. 

6 Glass or Tin Cups, 
1 ^Scarificator, improved, 
1 Brass Spirit Lamp. 
•Or with German Scarificator. 



Pessaries. 

Doctor Dewees's Silver gilt, 

do. do. plain, 

do. Flexible Metalic, 

do. Ivory, 

do. Wood, 

Gum Elastic, 

Glass Pessaries, a new article, and recommended by 
Professor Dewees. 



Teeth Extractors. 

In a neat morocco case, containing the following: 
1 Foxe's Key, spring bolt, 
1 Curved Forceps, double joints, 
1 Straight do. do. 

T 



218 CATALOGUE OF 

1 Tooth Punch, 
1 Gum Lancet. 

Any other Key can be substituted for Foxe's if 
desired, but it is decidedly the best for extracting 
teeth generally. 

Instruments for scaling and plugging the teeth, in 
neat morocco cases, containing: 

12 Scalers and Borers assorted. 
Also cases of Six do. 

These are very neat instruments and are much 
used, the price being very low. 



Teeth Instruments. 

Hinge Fulcrum Key with a spring bolt, 

ivory handles, 

Do. do. ebony do. 

Dr. Fox's Key, springbok, ivory handles, 

Do. ebony do. 

Dr. Clarke's improved Spring Key, with a pivot, 

ivory handles, 

Do. do. do. ebony do. 
Curved turn Key with a pivot, 
Plain Fox's Key, ebony handles, 
Curved Common Key, 
Straight, do. do. 
Curved Forceps, double joints, 
Straight do. do. 
Hawk's Bill do. do. 

Pelican do. do. 

Forceps, common joints, 
Curved Tooth Punches, 
Straight do. do. 

Tooth Files, 
Gum Lancets, 



SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS. / *219 



Trusses* 

Ebcrlc's ivory patent, 
Do. do. double, 
Do. wood do. 
Do. do. do. double, 
Ivory Turupads, 

Do. do. double, 
Wood do. 

Do. do. double, 
Leather do. 

Do. do. double, 
Plain Ivory Turnpads, 

Do. do. double, 

Opposite sided do. 

Do. do. double, 

Bellows Head do. 

Do. do. double, 

Common spring Turnpads, 

Do. do. double, 

Children's do. 

Do* do. double, 

Umbelical, 
Suspensory. 



Catheters, 



Silver Male, 

Do. Female, 
Flexible Metallic Male, 

Do. do. Female, 
Gum Elastic Male, 

— i Bougies, 

Flexible Metallic do. 



Miscellaneous. 

uvedTrochars for bladder, 



220 SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 

Straight do. Lancet pointed, 

Do. do. Angular, 

Polypus Forceps, 

Double Canulas for extracting polipi, 
Tubes for Tracheotomy, 
Dr. J. K. Mitchell's Spine Apparatus, 

Do. do. with improved chair, 
Bulloeg's Sound, 
Bullet Forceps, 

Doctor Physic's Tonsil Instrument, 
Scarificator for Tonsils, 
Dewees's Obstetrical Forceps, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

Improved Breast Glasses and Pump, in case, 
Syringe and Elastic Tube for extracting poison from 

stomach, 
Doctor Bond's Oesophagus Forceps, 
Stethoscopes, 
Cooper's Bistoury, 
Doctor Physick's Guarded Bistoury, 
Improved Womb Syringes, in cases, 

Do. Ear do. 
Hare-Lip Pins, 
Silver Lachrymal Pins, 
Probangs. 

In addition to the above, the author will have 
made to order any description of instruments used 
in the practice of surgery. 



Heighton's 


do. 


Boudelocque's 


do. 


Hall's 


do. 


Davis's 


do. 


Seabold's 


do. 



3 



Q 



^■w i^P^^y * tH'^* 




A 




Acetate of Morphia, solution of 


14 


Acetate of Morphia, 


IS 


Acid Meconic, 


19 


Prussic, - 


121 


Pyroligneous pure, 


170 


Antimony Tart, 


170 


B 




Bark, Peruvian, 


37 


Calisaya, 


44-162 


Loxa or Crown, 


45-162 


Red, (Oblongifolia,) 


46-161 


Maracaibo, 


60-162 


Blue Mass, 


90 


Brucine, 


112 


Black Pepper, Extract, 


88-167 


Oil of - 


153 


Buchu, Compound Extract, 


178 


C 




Cinchona, History of - 


37 


Calisaya, 


44-162 


Loxa or Crown, 


45-1 6£ 


Oblongifolia, 


46-161 


Cornine, Sulph. 


55 


Copaivt, Solidified, 


57 


Cinchona Maracaibo, - 


60 


Cinchonine, - 


63-117 


Cyanic Syrup, 


123 


Cyanuret of Potassium, 


123 


Zinc, 


123 


Iodine, 


124 



T 2 



222 



IND'EXc 



Confection Aromatic Chalybeate, * 17S 

Croton, Oil, - - - - 129 

Chloruret of Lime, - - - 137 

Soda, - - - 136 

Copaiva, Oil of - - - 155 

Cubebs, Oil of - 155 

Citrated Kali, - - - - 156 

Cornus Florida, Extract, * - 163 

Circinata, Extract, - - 164 

Cantharidin, Oil of - 165 

Calomel, .... 168 

Carbonate of Iron, - - - 172 

Congress Spring Powders, - - 186 

Catalogue of Medicines, - - 1 96 

Instruments, - - 211-220 

D 

Denarcotized Extract of Opium, - 8 

Acid Tincture of Opium, 9 

Delphine, - - - - 126 

Digestive Lozenges, - 139 

Digitaline, - - - - 140 

Diosma Crenata, Extract, - - 178 

Doses of Medicine, - fc - 196 

k 

English Opium, ... 2 

East India Opium, - 2 

Extract of Opium, - - - 7 

Denarcotised Acidulous, - 8 

Extract of Black Pepper, - - 88-167 

Nux Vomica Alcoholic, - 107 

Emetine, - - II 5 

Fastiles and Syrup, - - 116 

Euphorbia Lathyris, Oil, - - 132 

Extract, Sarsaparilla Fluid, - - 148, 

Extract, Compound Tonic, - - 160 

Sem. Stramonii, - - 161 






INDEX. 




TZ6 


Extract, Quinine, 


» 


161 


Cornus Florida, 


- 


163 


Circinata, 


- 


164 


Emetic, Tartar 


- 


170 


Extract, Buchu compound, 


- 


178 


F 






Fluid Extract of Sarsaparilla, 


- 


148 


G 






Ginger Beer Powders, 


- 


176 


Gold, Muriate and Oxide, 


;* 


127 


Gentianine, - 


» 


133 


Tincture and Syrup, 


- 


134 


H 






Hydriodate, Potass, Solution, 


- 


103 


Ointment, 


- 


104 


Hepatica Triloba, Syrup,, 

I 

Iodine, ... 


- 


190 


. 


101 


Tincture of 


- 


4 02 


Iodurets of Mercury, 


» 


105 


Ointment and Tincture, 


106 


Iodine, Cyanuret of - 


- 


124 


Iron, Carbonate of - 


- 


172 


K 






Kali, Citrated, 




156 


L, 






Loxa or Crown Bark, 


45 


-126 


Lactucarium, 




126 


Lupuline, - 


- 


127 


Pills and tinctures, - 


- 


153 


Syrup of 


- 


129 


J me, Chloruret 


- 


137 


Lozenges, Digestive or bi-carbonate of Soda, 


139 


Liverwort, Compound Syrup of 


•- 


190 



224 



INDEX. 



M 

Morphia, Acetate Solution of - 

Morphia, - 

Salts of 

Meconic Acid, - 

Maracaibo Bark, - 

Mercury, Division of, in Blue Mass, 
Proto and Deuto Iodurets, 
Ointment, 
Tincture, 
Sulph. .Ether, 
Pills, 

Morphia, - - - - 

Mercury, Black Oxide, 

Medicines, Catalogue of 

JNarcotine, - 
Nux Vomica Alcoholic Extract, 
Tincture, 

O 

Opium, Turkey, 

East India, - 

English, . . „ 

Consumption of 

Extract of - 

Denarcotised Acidulous Extract, 

Tincture, 
RezinCoutchouc, Oil and Acid, 
Fasculencies, - 
Manufacture of 
Ointment Hydriodate of Potass, 

Proto and Deuto Ioduret Mercury 
of Veratrine, 
Oil of Croton, - - 

Soap of - 
Euphorbia Lathyris, 
Black Pepper, - 



60 



14 
17 
18 
19 

■162 
91 
105 
106 
106 
206 
107 
113 
159 
196 



15-114 
109 
108 



2 

2 

3 

5 

7 

8 

9-23 

16 

18 

24 

104 

106 

120 

129 

129 

132 

153. 



INDEX. 225 



Oil of Copaiva, 
Cubebs, 


; 


1SS 
155 


Oxide of Mercury, Black 
Oil of Cantharidin, 


. 


159 

165 


P 






Poppy, on the Cultivation of - 


. 


24 


Peruvian Bark, 


- 


37 


Pipeline and Quinine combined, 


- 


55 


Piperine, - 


- 


73 


Potass, Hydriodate Solution, - 
Ointment, 


- 


103 
104 


Pills, Proto and Deuto Iodurets of Mercury, 


107 


Strychnine, 


- 


110 


Pastiles of Emetine, 


- 


116 


Pills of Veratrine, 


- 


119 


Prussie Acid, - 


- 


121 


Pectoral mixture, 


- 


122 


Potassium, Cyanuret, 
Platina, Salts of 


- 


123 
127 


Pills of Lupuline, 

Phosphorus, - - - • 


- 


128 
141 


Powders, Ginger Beer, Chalybeate, 
Powders, Saratoga, 


- 


176 

186 


a 






Quinine, Sulphate, remarks on, 
Quinine, Extract of 


» 


53-117 
161 


R 






Red Bark, 


„ 


46-161 


Rhubarbaine, 


. 


67 


Rhubarb, its varieties, 


- 


68 


S 

Sulphate of Morphia, - 


. 


13 


Quinine, 


- 53- 


-64-117 


Cornine, 


- 


163 


.Solidified Copaiva, 


- 


57 



WZb INDEX, 




Sulphate of Cinchonine, 


63-117 


Rhubarb, - 


67 


Solution, Hydriodate Potass, 


103 


'Strychnine, - 


103 


Fills and Tincture, - 


110 


Syrup of Emetine 


116 


Solution of Veratrine, - 


120 


Syrup, Cyanic, - 


123 


Salanine, - 


125 


Syrup of Lupuline,, 


129 


Gentiaaine, - 


134 


Soda, Chloruret, 


136 


Salacine, - 


142 


Sarsaparilla, • 


144 


Compound Fluid Extract, 


148 


Strammonii, Extract Sem. 


161 


Saratoga Powders, 


186 


Syrup of Liverwort, - 


190 


Surgical Instrument!, 

T 

Turkey Opium, 


. 211-220 


2 


Tincture Deuto-Iocluret of Mercury, ■ 


106 


Nux. Vomica, 


103 


Strychnine, 


110 


Veratrine, 


419 


Thrydace or Lacutacarium r 


126 


Tincture of Lupuline, 


158 


Gentianine, 


134 


Tonic Extract, Compound, 


160 


Tartar Emetic, - -. . 


170 


V 




Veratrine, » 


113 


Pills and Tincture, - 


119 


Solution and Ointment, 


120 


Urea, - 


126 


Vegetable Extracts, 


. 172 



Zinc, Cyanuret, 



Z 



^p-For the convenience of the Students of Mineralogy, 
who reside in the vicinity of Philadelphia, I have had 
bound up -with this 7vor/c the following pages, which 
gives the most interesting localities of Minerals in 
equal distance from the city; and an entire rail 
road from Philadelphia to West Chester, now being 
made, 7vill afford facilities to the mineralogist un~~ 
equalled in any other district. 

ON THE 

MINERALOGY 

OF 

■ OTITIS iillff? 

WITH AN ACCOUNT OE SOME OP THE 



INERALS 

Of Delaware, Maryland, 3p oilier localities. 
By GEO. W, CARPENTER. 



Assisted by my friend Mr. George Spackman of 
Philadelphia, I published in the 9th vol. of Silliman's 
Journal, an account of the various minerals, which 
we found on a tour made in 1825, through Chester 
county and part of the state of Delaware. On a late 
revisit to those localities, and a further extent of in- 
vestigation, I discovered many additional localities 
of interesting minerals, which with the previous 
catalogue already described, will embrace most of 
the minerals contained in the several townships 
which have yet been explored. 

Chester county presents to the mineralogists a 
rich field for investigation. Her limestone, serpen- 
tine and gneiss, the predominant rocks of the county, 

U 



Z MINERALOGY OF 

contain inexhaustible beds of interesting minerals* 
and the numerous quarries every where in opera- 
tion, greatly facilitate the means of procuring them. 
These circumstances, with the polite attention mani- 
fested towards strangers by the inhabitants of the 
county, and the singular hospitality which particu- 
larly characterizes them, are inducements of the 
strongest nature for encouraging the mineralogist, to 
visit this county in preference to almost any section 
of country. 

It is a gratifying circumstance for the lovers of 
natural history, to learn that mineralogy, its most in- 
teresting, useful and important department, is making 
rapid advancement in this county, and in the state of 
Delaware. Almost all classes of society are taking 
an interest in its promotion, particularly the farmers; 
and if the same zeal and ardor for investigation con- 
tinue uninterrupted, we may reasonably expect some 
valuable acquisitions to result from their researches. 
Already several valuable materials have been found 
in abundance. Magnesite and ferruginous oxide of 
chrome, (chromate of Iron,)* have been extensively 
and advantageously worked for epsom salt, and 
chrome yellow. These articles, a few years 
since, were received exclusively from England; they 
are now made from the above materials of equal 
quality as the foreign, and at a lower rate than they 
can be imported, which has eventuated in the total 
exclusion of the foreign articles, and such has been 
the march of improvement, and the advancement of 
science, that a cabinet of Natural Science! has been 

-•This mineral has been very improperly termed chromate 
of Iron by the most respectable authors. Iron forms a very 
inconsiderable proportion of the mineral, and the chrome i« 
not in the state of an acid but in that of an oxide; it may there 
fore with more propriety be called a ferruginous oxide c? 
chrome. 

f The West Chester Cabinet of Natural Sciences was 01 
ganised iu 1826, and is Already in possession of a fine collec 



CHESTER COUNTY. 8 

established at West Chester, and is now in a flour- 
ishing condition, and under the most favourable cir- 

tion of minerals, and an extensive herbarium, and contribu- 
tions through the zeal and activity of the members are daily 
making- to each department; under these circumstances the 
institution is now in a rapidly improving condition. The mi- 
nerals are arranged in two departments, one of which is de- 
voted exclusively to the minerals of Chester county, by which 
you may view at a glance, all the minerals which have yet 
been discovered. The other is a general cabinet, arranged 
according to Professor Cleavland's admirable system, and in- 
cludes, besides those of the county and neighbourhood, a con- 
siderable number from various localities in America and Eu- 
rope. 

Distinguished credit is due to Mr. John W. TownsencI, 
corresponding secretary, and to H. H. Van Amringe, A. Mar- 
shall, and Townsend Haines, Esqrs. curators, for their inde- 
fatigable zeal, industry, and consequent success, as manifested 
by the present favourable condition, of this department of the 
cabinet ; also to William Jackson, Vice President, and Mr, Joel 
Baily of East Marlborough, for their very liberal donations. 

There are also tw© herbariums, containing upwards of two 
thousand species. One is devoted exclusively, to the plants 
of the county, and denominated the Chester cousty herba- 
rium, which contains specimens of nearly all the known indi- 
genous plants of the county. Since the publication of the 
Florula Cestrica, a recent valuable work by Dr. Darlington, 
several species, not enumerated in the catalogue of that pub- 
lication, have been added to the collection The other is de- 
nominated the general herbarium, is arranged according to 
the natural order of Jusseau, and contains about one thousand 
two hundred specimens, many of which are from the United 
States, but the greater number have been received from 
iFrance and Germany, and constant additions are making to 
the herbarium through Dr. William Darlington, President of 
the Institution, to whose scientific and critical knowledge of 
this interesting department of natural science, with h's perse- 
vering industry and zeal, in arranging, collecting and exchang- 
ing specimens, the cabinet is exclusively indebted fjr the re- 
markable condition of its herbarium, which reflects high ho- 
nour upon the institution. Dr. Darlington's arrangement, in- 
dependently of many conveniences, affords so great facility, 
th»ta plant of any class and species may be selected, without 
the least difficulty in a minute of time, and without disturbing 
the arrangement. The rapid progress which this institution 
has made within the short period since its establishment, and 
lamenting interest which the agriculturists of the county 
ing in its support, warrant the m«st favourable antic*- 
of its future usefulness and importance. 



4 MINERALOGY OF 

cumstances for becoming a highly useful and import- 
ant institution. An institution* of the same kind has 
just been established at Wilmington, under the most 
favourable auspicies, and bids fair to prosper. 

Among the townships of Chester county, East 
Marlborough, London Grove, Newlin and East Brad- 
ford^ have been most examined-. Pennsbury, Ren- 
net, New Garden, West Marlborough, West Brad* 
ford, West Goshen and Westown, 'have been exam- 
ined to a certain extent. Penn, Londonderry, Up- 
per and Lower Oxford, East and West Fallowfield, 
New London, and East and West Nottingham, have 
been scarcely examined at all bythe mineralogist. 
The townships which have not yet been explored, are 
in the south west part of the county, and as most of 
ihem contain abundant beds of limestone and ridges 
•of serpentine, they will no doubt disclose, on exami- 
nation, many new and interesting minerals. 

East Marlborough is more remarkable for the 
great variety of minerals, than for the abundance of 
any one kind except the carbonate of lime, which 
forms extensive beds throughout the township, and 
the extreme value of this mineral in enriching and 
improving the soil, is admirably displayed, in the 
luxuriance of almost every vegetable species within 
its influence. 

Newlin is not only remarkable for a considerable 
variety of minerals, but particularly for the great 
abundance 'of its serpentine, quartz and beryl ; the 
two latter occur of an interesting character, and are 
extremely abundant, particularly the beryl, which 

* The Delaware academy of Natural Sciences has, within a ' 
Tew months, been established at Wilming-ion. They are pur- 
suing 1 the same course as the cabinet of West Chester, in col- 
lecting the natural productions of the count ry, and have al- 
ready a good collection of the minerals which have been dis- 
covered in their state and vicinity. 'J liey possess some ex- 
tremely active and zealous members who will no doubt exalt 
the institution, by increasing 1 the means of its usefulness aoil 
.prosperity. 



-CHESTER COUXTY. 5 

SOhstHtrtes "almost a distinct formation, and the place 
has, from this circumstance, been denominated by 
the mineralogist?, bervl hill, by which name it is 
known through several townships. Large quanti- 
ties of detached crystals of beryls, may, at all times, 
be dug within a foot or two from the surface. Drusy 
quartz, of white, yellow and rich green colours, oc- 
curs in considerable quantity, in the vicinity. 

Westotvn Township* 

This township Was not noticed in the former des- 
cription, and has been as yet but partially explored ; 
the following are the most important minerals which 
have been discovered. 

Earthy and ferruginous oxide of magnese, of excel" 
lent quality, for employment in the arts and manu- 
factures. 1 presented a sample 'to Mr. Abraham 
Miller, an ingenious potter of this city, who made 
use of it in his manufacture, and pronounced it 
equal to the imported. It occurs on Joseph Os- 
burne's farm, three miles south of West Chester. 
It has not yet been worked, but its ..position and 
external appearances render it probable, that it is 
abundant. 
Siliceous oxide and carbonate of manganese, of a red- 
dish and yellowish brown colour, and of a some- 
what foliated structure, same locality. 
Manganesian garnet, massive, of a reddish brown 

colour, same locality. 
Black schorl, traversing quarz in cylindrical crys- 
tals, very beautiful, on Joseph Osburne's farm. 
Fine acicular and fibrous hornblende, of a jet black 

colour, same locality. 
Limpid and smoky quartz, in beautiful transparent 
crystals, hexahedral prisms terminated by pyra- 
mids, loose in the soil, Joseph Osburne's farm. , 
A mine was opened on this farm about sixty years 
ce for silver ore, and a small portion of the metal 

U 2 



6 MINERALOGY OF 

was obtained. It was however abandoned in con- 
sequence of the minute quantity yielded, and a 
doubtful prospect of its producing advantageously. 
The oxides and carbonates of manganese, and the 
maganesian garnet, occur also on William Osburne's 
farm, 

East Bradford Tozonship. 

Cyanite, in obliqe tetrahedral prisms, (primitive- 
form,) from one quarter to one inch in thickness, 
and from one to three inches in length, occurs in 
mica slate and detached crystals, on the Strasburg 
road, near the bridge on the east branch of the 
Brandywine — abundant. 

Zircon, an interesting locality of this mineral occurs 
in bluish quartz, near Jeffries' ford. 

Feldspar, of a bluish color and "a lameller structure, 
occurs near Jeffries' ford on the Brandywine. 

Amethyst, of a rich violet colour, highly transparent, 
in hexahedral prisms terminated by pyramids, 
occurs detached in the soil, on James Gibbon's 
farm, three miles south of West Chester. Fine 
specimens from this locality, are in the cabinet of 
Natural Sciences of West Chester. 

Sulphhret of iron, in large cubic crystals, on R. 
Woodward's farm 

Red oxide of titanium, same locality. 

Sulphuret of iron, in cubic crystals, on Job Darling- 
ton's farm. 
Plumbago, same locality. 

Necronite, well characterised in disseminated mas- 
ses, in Benjamin Copes' quarry. 
Schorl, of a beautiful jet black colour, on J. Pain- 
ter's farm. 

Pcnnsborough Township, 

Necronite, in carbonate of lime, in Mendenl 
lime quarries. 



CHESTER COUNTY. ^ 

Amethyst, in beautiful violet crystals, On George 

Darlington's farm, adjoining Wisters. 
Bo«jf iron ore, same locaiitv. 
Mica, in regular hexahedral prisms, in granite, near 

Darlington's mill. 

■ Ss r czv tin Tow?i ship. 

Green quartz, in drusy clusters and prismatic crys- 
tals, on the serpentine ridge, near Mason's farm. 

Limpid quartz, in hexahedral prisms terminated by 
pyramids, in carbonate of lime, in Edwards' lime 
quarries. 

Fluate of lime, of a deep blue colour, im small cubic 
crystals, same locality. 

Calcareous spar, in rhombic crystals and hexahedral 
prisms, having irregular sides, same locality. 

Schorl, in beautiful cylindrical crystals, of a jet black 
colour, same locality. 

eryl, of a rich green colour, near William Ernbries' 
malt house, in detached crystals. 

Gieen mica, in foliated masses and crystallized l:i 
granite, near the Celebrated beryl locality. 

Green foliated talc, -same locality. 

Sulphuret of iron, in cubic crystals, same locality. 

Mica, of a grass green colour, beautifully straited, 
near Brandy wine bridge, three miles west of Ches- 
ter county poor house. 

East Marlborough Township. 

Iserine, in detached crystals and granular masse?, at 

David Persey's mill race, also in quartz, in tetra- 

hedral prisms straited, in John Daily's lime quarry. 

' T, remolite, beautifully crystallized, in oblique four 

sided prisms, the acute lateral edges truncated with 

dihedral summits, in John Baily's lime quarry. 

•Iphuret of iron, in cubic crystals occasionally 

mcated, on all its angles, also in dodecahedrons., 

ohn Daily's lime quarries. 



& MINERALOGY OF 

Epidate, in hexahedral prisms, sometimes tfuncatel 
on the edges of a yellowish green colour, on Isaac 
Taylor's farm, adjoining John Baily's, south. 

Foliated talc, white and green, on A Marshall's farm,, 
also on McClouds, adjoining. 

West Marlborough Township, 

Phosphate of lime, in hexahedral prisms, of yellow- 
ish green colour, in granularlimestone, in Bernard's 
quarry. 

Iserine. Beautiful specimens of this mineral occur 
in tetrahedral prisms., truncated on the angles, 
longitudinally striated, with oblique summits, in 
Bernard's lime quarry. 

Brown spar, in small rhombic crystals, with the, 
planes slightly curved, in Bernard's lime quarry. 

Dogtooth spar, (carb. of lime) in semi transparent 
straw coloured crystals, McNeal's lime quarry. 

j\ r ezv Garden Toxvnshtp. 

Fibrolitc, of a'greyish white colour, in little bundles of 
delicate fibres and acicular crystals intimately con- 
nected, on Nathan Scarlet's farm, south 0/ Phil- 
lips 1 quarry. 

Black schorl, in cylindrical crystals and' fibres, a 
very beautiful variety of this mineral, same lo- 
cality. 

Garnets, in dodecahedral crystals, of a deep red 
colour, in mica slate, same locality. 

Fibrous carbonate oflime,in J. Phillip's lime quarry. 

Carbonate of lime, in beautiful arborescent mammi- j 
lary and botryoidal concretion?, in Joshua PU- 
sey's lime quarry. 

Tremolite, in fine acicular crystals, and fibres of a I 
pure snow white colour, radiating and diverging j 
Brown's quarry. 

Kaolin, an extensive bed of this mineral occurs on 
Israel Hoop's farm, New Gardentownship.' T is 
substance is extensively employed in theiwf" ?- 



CHESTER COUNTY. y 

lure of porcelain ware. Two manufactories, and 
the only one as yet established in the country, are 
supplied from this locality. 

West Bradford Township, 

Diallage and saus?urite, near Worthy's tavern, on the 
St raws burg road-. 

Chromate of iron, in detached masses, and disintegra- 
ted crystals, same locality. 

Epidote, in beautiful hexahedral prisms, with dihe- 
dral summits, of a resplendent bottle green colour; 
the crystals are from one half to three inches 
in length, and from one sixteenth to three fourths 
of an inch in diameter, fully equal in size and beau- 
ty ! to those of the oelebrated locality of Ardendal 
in Norway, occurs in primitive hornblende, on 
Smith's and McMullins farms, adjoining each 
other. 

-Zeolite, in fascicular groups of minute crystals and 
fibres, radiating from a central point, of a snow 
white colour., and pearly lustre, forming narrow 
veins in primitive hornblende, on Robert Lam- 
bern's farm. 

Chabasie,. in rombic crystals, of a reddish brown 
colour, in hornblende associated with zeolite, 
same locality. 

Silico-calcareous oxide of titanium, in rhomboidal 
prisms, with dihedral summits, in a gangue of 
hornblende and feldspar, same locality. 

Blue feldspar, of the lamellar variety, striated on the 
surface, same locality. 

Mica, in rhomboidal and "hexahedral prisms, in 
granite., one mile north of Sharplesstown, on the 
Wilmington road. 

Amethyst, o^ a deep violet colour., in hexahedral 
prisms, with pyramidal terminations, loose in the 
soil, on George Passmor^s farm. 

Fetid quartz, well characterized, in R. Wood's lime 
miarry. 



10 MINERALOGY OF 

Limpid quartz, in hexahedral prisms, with pyrami- 

dial terminations, in the lime quarries near the 

poor house. 
Iserine, in striated cylindrical crystals, imbedded in 

quartz, same locality. 
Sulphuret of iron, in cubic crystals, occasionally trun* 

cated on the angles, same locality. 

London Grove Township, 

Tremolite, in fibrous and radiated masses, in Ephraim 
Wilson's quarry. 

Phosphate of lime, perfectly transparent, of a rich 
bottle green colour, in hexahedral prisms and mas- 
sive, on Allison's farm; this interesting locality wat 
discovered by Dr. Allison who has liberally dis- 
tributed specimens among our mineralogists. 

Tourmaline, of a beautiful velvet black, in hexahe- 
dral prisms^ terminated with trihedral faces, set on 
the lateral edges, on William Jackson's farm. 

Red oxide of titanium, in tetrahedral prisms, with di- 
hedral summits in gneiss, also massive, on William 
Jackson's farm. 

Iserine, tetrahedral prisms, truncated on the angels, 
and longitudinally striated-, in Wm. Jackson's lime 
quarry* 

Tremolite, crystallized, and in radiated fibres, same 
locality. 

Foliated and fine scaly talc, of a white colour, in 
Mitchiner's quarry, adjoining William Jackson's. 

Brown tourmaline, in hexahedral prisms, in carbo* 
nate of lime, a beautiful mineral, in W r . Jackson's, 
and Pile & Morrisson's lime quarries. 

►Crystallized quartz,* in hexahedral prisms with py- 
ramidal summits, transparent, in Pile & Morri- 
son's quarry. 

"* A specimen of limpid quartz from Morrison's quarry, pre? 
rented to the Cabinet of Natural Sciences by W. Jackson, and 
now in their museum, a hexahedral prism with pyramidal ter. 
jninaiion, measures sixteen inches in circumference. 









CHESTER COUNTY. II 

JBrown spar, in rhombic crystals, slightly curved, of 
a brownish colour and beautiful pearly lustre, 
same locality. 

Fetid quartz, well characterized, same locality. 
Magnesian carbonate of lime, in rhombic masses and 
crystals, same locality. 

Quartz, of a milk white colour, on William Jackson's 
farm. 

Cyanite. An interesting locality of cyanite in the primi- 
tive form, has been discovered in this vicinity, by 
Dr. Allison. 

Garnets, in dodecahedral crystals, abundant in the 
gneiss rocks, and detached, on W. Jackson's farm 
and neighbourhood; a specimen in the museum of 
the West Chester cabinet, measures 6.75 inches in 
circumference. 

Specular oxide of iron, in quartz, near London 

Grove meeting house. 
Mica, of a leek green colour, on William Jackson's 

farm. 
Cyanite, in fascicular groups or bladed crystals, of a 

pale and sky blue colour, on William Jackson's 

farm. 
Black and reddish brown schorl, in acicular diverg- 
ing crystals, and fibres in quartz, on W. Jackson's 

farm. 
Smoky quartz, six sided prisms, detached in the soil, 

on W. Jackson's farm. 

Calcareous spar, striated diagonally, to the rhombic 
cleavage, on W. Jackson's farm. 

Dogtooth spar, of a straw yellow colour, in semi- 
transparent crystals, in W. Jackson's lime quar- 
ries. 

Epidote, in hexahedral prisms, of a bottle green 
colour, in Mitchiner's lime quarry. 

Red jasper, in detached masses, on W. Jackion's 
lime quarry. 



12 MINERALOGY OP 

New London Township. 

FibroHte, in delicate fibres* intimately connected, of 
a greyish white colour, and glistening aspect, on 
Robert Hudson's farm. 

Schorl, in cylindrical crystals, of a jet black colour,, 
same locality. 

Sundry Loealiles in Ckestier County. 

Zoisite, in rhomboidal, cylindrical acicular crystals, 
of a grey colour* in gneiss, in Bathwoods, near 
West Chester, West Goshen township, discovered 
by Townsend Haines, Esq. 

Oxide of iron, the red hematitic variety, on the ser- 
pentine ridge, Nottingham township. 

Magnesite, forming narrow veins, in the serpentine 
ridge, West Goshen. 

Mica, in beautiful hexahedral prisms, Kennet town- 
ship. 

Stalactical carbonate of lime, of a snow white colour, 
in arborescent, reniform, mamrmlary and botryoi- 
dal concretions, in John Robert's lime quarry, 
West Whiteland, Chester county, four miles north 
of West Chester, 

Actynolite, in chlorite slate, near Waggontown, 
Chester county. 

Amianthus, in delicate silk fibres, forming minute 
veins in serpentine, Joseph Taylor's quarry, West 
Goshen near West Chester. 

Plumbago, in quartz,near Charleston villageyCharles- 
ton township. 

Epidote, in hexahedral prisms, of "a yellowish green 
colour, Strode's mill, near West Chester. 

Oxide of iron, highly magnetic, near Goshen meet- 
ing house, East Goshen township. 

Garnets, in dodecahedral crystals, of a brown colour, 
abundant on A. Hoop's farm, East Goshen town- 
ship. 

Bog iron ore, on Pennypacker's farm, Charleston 
township. 



OF LITTLE BRITAIN. 13 

Little Britain Township, Lancaster county, Penn. 

Octahedral magnetic oxide of iron, in the serpentine 
ridge, on Joel Jackson's farm. 

Massive and crystallized ferruginous oxide of chrome, 
or chromate of iron, occurs on a minor ridge of 
serpentine, about a mile north of the main serpen- 
tine ridge, being about two miles west of the south 
western point of Chester county, on the property 
of McKim, Sims, & Co. of Baltimore, adjoining 
Joel Jackson's farm. The disintegrated crystals 
of chromate of iron, are found coating the cavities 
of all the ravines made in the sides of the hill, and 
indicate the existence of this valuable material in 
quantity. 

Magnesite. An extensive locality of this valuable mine- 
ral occurs, forming veins in the serpentine of con- 
siderable thickness,same[locality; and «> now exten- 
sively quarried and manufactured by Messrs. Mc 
Kim,Sims,& Co. of Baltimore,^ sulphate of mag- 
nesia, (Epsom salts.) The^e gentlemen have suc- 
ceeded in making a purer salt ai.a much less 
price than it can be imported, which has entirely 
excluded importation ; and the United States are 
now almost entirely supplied from this establish- 
ment. Four hundred or tive hundred tons of mag- 
nesite, have been obtained from this locality, and 
Messrs. McKim & oims manufacture 1,500,000 lbs. 
of Epsom ?alt<*nnually. 

Actynolite, i*» green compressed crystals, in talc, 
serpentine ridge, on Joel Jackson's farm. 

Noble serpentine, with delicate veins of amianthus, 
serpentine ridge, on Joel Jackson's farm. 

Chalcedony. An interesting locality of this mineral 
occurs near the magnesite above described, and 
about one and a half miles distant from the cele- 
brated locality at Rocks springs, described in my 
paper, and near the locality of magnesite and chro- 
mate of iron. 



14 MINERALOGY OF 

DELAWARE. 

New Castle County. 

Phosphate of lime, in granite, of a bluish green colour^ 
in hexahedral prisms, occasionally longitudinally 
striated, from one sixteenth to one and a half 
inches in diameter, and from half to two inches in 
length, abundant on a farm, adjoining Wistar 
Dixon's east, and about six miles from Wilming- 
ton. 

Beryl, of a fine apple green colour T in hexahedral 
prisms, in granite, on a farm adjoining Dixon's* 
and near the serpentine ridge. 

Precious garnets, in granite, of a brilliant red colour, 
in^odecahedrons, on Dixon's farm in the wood 
near tVe house. 

Schorl, of a <iark red colour, in cylindrical crystals, 
in granite, sa*ae locality. 

Brown and red hematite, on the .serpentine Tidge 
near. 

Jasper, of a reddish brown, and yellowish colour, 
forming veins in. serpentine, Dixon's farm. 

Q uartz, of a reddish brown colour, in sit sided 
prisms, terminated at both extremities, by six sided 
pyramids, resembling the quartz of Compostella, 
same locality, also, near the Centerville turnpike. 

Drusy quartz, limped, yellow, a*d green, in beauti- 
ful clusters of minute crystals, san^ locality. 

Feldspar. An extensive bed of this mineral, occurs 
adjoining Dixon's farm, the land containing it has 
lately been purchased by Mr. W. E. 'JT^ckerof 
Philadelphia, who employs the article extensively 
in the manufacturtof Porcelain ware. This w&re 
of which the feldspar, is an important constituent, 

> has been brought to such perfection by Mr. Wm. 
E. Tucker, that it is pronounced by competent 
judges, to possess a soundness of body, smoothness 
*of glazing, ajkd beauty of lustre, fully equal to the 



MARYLAND. 15 

imported, and surpasses in purity of whiteness, 
either the French or English china, which is met 
with in our market. 

Epidote, massive, and crystallized, in primitive horn- 
blende, on the Kennet turnpike, near the Buck 
tavern. 

Lamellar hornblende, possessing somewhat the lus- 
tre and colours of the hypersthenic, same locality. 

MARYLAND. 

Cecil County. 

Schorl, of a velvet black colour, in beautiful cylindri- 
cal crystals, disseminated in quartz, near the fall 
of north east creek, 

Actynolite, of a bottle green colour, in compressed 
acicular crystals, in talc, near Cooptown,Hartford 
county. 

Magnetic oxide of iron, massive, and in octahedral 
crystals, in chlorite slate, same locality. 

Fibrous talc, of a reddish colour, same locality. 

Magnesite. An extensive locality of this valuable 
mineral, occurs at Bare Hill, near Baltimore, and 
has been extensively employed in the manufacture 
of Epsom salts; it is now obtained from Little Bri- 
tain township, Lancaster county, as hefore de- 
scribed. 

Bucks County \Penru 

Magnetic oxide of iron, h^lf a mile above Newport, 
on the Neshamony creek. This ore was formerly 
worked, but has been abandoned, in consequence 
of not producing advantageously. 

Serpentine, having distinct laminae, slightly curved. 
These pervade the serpentine in spots,, and when 
viewed in direction of the laminae, have a shining 
and pearly lustre,, and when contrasted with the 
greenish black, dull, and opaque colour of the ser- 
pentine, have a glistening and metalic appearance, 



16 MINERALOGY OF 

somewhat resembling hypersthene, half a mile be~ ; 
low Newport, on Roldman's run. 

Lamellar feldspar, the glassy variety and graphic 
granite, at Newport. 

Tourmaline, of a rich black colour, in eight sided 
prisms, longitudinally striated, terminated by three 
sided pyramids, in granite which forms veins in 
gneiss, at Nevil's academy, near Bustleton. 

Cyanite, of a fine blue colour, in flat crystals or 
blades, in quartz, forming a vein in gneiss, near the 
same locality. 

Scaly talc, in detached masses, occasionally contain- 
ing asbestos, same locality. 

Asbestoid actynolite,in silky fibres andacicular crys- 
tals, radiating from a centre in beautiful tufts, in 
detached masses, from one to fifty pounds weight, 
in a wood, half a mile east of Bustleton. 

Magnesian garnets, massive, of a lamellar structure* 
on the Penny pack creek, three miles from Bustle^ 
ton, at the mouth of the Sandy run. 

Black oxide of manganese, in gneiss, same locality. 

Phosphate of lime, in six sided prisms, terminated by 
six sided pyramids, of a light green colour, in 
quartz, same locality- 
Iridescent feldspar, of a bluish white colour, resem- 
bling the Labrador spar, on the farm ^of Mr. Jacob 
Van Arsdalen, three miles westt>f Attleboro,' and 
seven north of Bustleton. 

Tremolite, of a grass' green colour, in carbonate of 
lime, in oblique tetrahedral prisms, having the 
acute edges truncated, with dihedral summits, oc* 
casionally transparent, Van Arsdalen's farm, same 
locality. 

Actynolite, of a deep green colour, same locality. 

Mica, in six sided prisms, in granite, fibrous- struc- 
ture, in a diagonal direction to the angles of the 
•prism, in which direction it may be cleaved, and 
numerous delicate fibres separated, on the Penny 
^ack creekj one mile south west of Bustleton, 



BtCKS COUNTY. 17 

For the discovery of the above localities, in Bucks 
county, we are indebted to our friend Dr. Edward 
Swift, an indefatigable mineralogist of Bustleton, 
Penn. 

At the locality of tremolite, iridescent feldspar and 
aetynolite, on Jacob Van Arsdalen's farm, the fol- 
lowing interesting minerals, also occur, which render 
this locality sufficiently attractive to mineralogists. 
1. Tabular spar, in masses of several tons weight, 
analyzed by Dr. Morton, and Mr. J. P. WetherilL, 
who obtained the following constituents: — 
Silex, - -'- - 51.50 

Lime, - ~ '• 44.10 

Oxide of iron, - - 1.00 

Lost by calcination, - - .75 



-97.35 

2, Scapolite, massive and crystallized. 3. Pyrox- 
ene, in hexahedral prisma. 4. Zircon, forme 
soustrative of Hauy. 5. Mica, clove brown, and 
emerald green. 6. Blue quartz, in small quantity. 
7. Feldspar, massive, of a dark: blue colour, also 
in rhombic prisms, with the terminal angles trun- 
cated, Unitaire of Hauy. - 8. Garnet, granular and 
in small •dedecahedral crystals. 9. Phosphate of 
lime, massive, -and in hexahedral prisms. 10. 
Graphite, massive, and in delicate hexagonrJ tables. 
11. Sulpburet of iron, massive, and in -octohedrai 
crystals. 12. Silico-calcareous oxicte of titanium, 
in oblique four sided prisms. 
I have merely given a catalog^ of these minerals, 
as an elaborate and detailed account of them, has 
been published by Dr. S.^miel G. Morton, of Phila- 
delphia, in the Journal of the Academy of Natural 
Sciences of Philadelphia, for June, 1827. 

Philadelphia County.. 

Icar. oxide of titanium, in oblique four sided 
pusms, at Radner's mill, near the fails of SchuyL- 

V 2 



18 MINERALOGY OF 

kill, also on the township line road, near Ritten- 
house's smith shop. 

Phosphate of lime, massive, and in hexahedral prisms-, 
imbedded in feldspar, on the township line road, 
same locality. 

Graphite, massive, in gneiss rock, on Robinson's hill, 
on the Schuylkill, live miles from Philadelphia. 

Limpid quartz, in hexahedral prisms, with pyra* 
midal terminations, in detached crystals, same lo- 
cality. 

Chalcedony, on "Longstroth's farm, near the York 
road, live miles from Philadelphia. 

White beryl, in granite, hexahedral prisms, in Day's 
cave, near the residence of William Wister, Esq. 

Graphic granite, and laminated feldspar, same lo- 
cality. 

Cyanite, in bladed crystals, from a pale to a deep 
sky blue in granite, near Livzely's mill, on the 
Wisahicon. 

Tourmaline, of a velvet black colour, in hexahedral 
prisms, near Rittenhouse's paper mill, on the 
Wisahicon. 

'Hematite, (brown Oxide of iron,) in mamilary mas- 
ses, near Jacob Wise's mill on the Wisahicon. 

Red oxide of titanium, massive and crystallized, in 
<^lay slate, on Wise's lane, near Wisahicon. 

LimpH quartz, in pyramidal clusters and drusy ag- 
gregate^ same locality. 

Smoky quart*, highly transparent, near the township 
line road, six i^iles from Philadelphia. 
My friend Mr. J obn Wister, of Germantown, has 

obtained very fine spec'^nens from each of the above 

localities of Philadelphia county. 

Having on hand duplicates ^f all the above mine- 
rals, with an extensive collection from other locali- 
ties, I shall be happy to exchange them for those 

tfrom other districts. 

GEORGE W. CARPENTER, 
•JW301, Market Street 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 19 

P. S, The manufactory of porcelain at Jersey 
'city, one of the two mentioned in the above account, 
has we understand been discontinued, and that at 
Philadelphia, is stated to be the only one in the 
United States. 



ERRATA, 

Page 20S", for the dose of Sal Martis. read, 1 scru- 
■ple to § drachm. 

I must beg indulgence for any typographical errors 
which occur in this work, as press of business and 
continued engagements, prevented me from correct- 
ing the proof sheets. There will be no doubt several 
errors, such as approbrium for opprobium, emma- 
nagogue for emmenagogue, &c. &c. They are how- 
ever of no consequence, as they will all be perfectly 
understood, and can lead to no misunderstanding. 



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